Wilde Zootopia
by ShamefulMan
Summary: ShamefulMan here! New story! Think you guys will like this one. WildeHopps centric. Nick grew up with a little more violence making him not only cynical but dangerous. Not because he wanted to, but because he was forced to. Meeting Judy during the nighthowlers incident would change his life, but will shifty lifestyle allow it? Shit summary, but I promise you guys will like it!
1. Chapter 1

**Hey dudes. New story here. THIS TIME, this story is completely unrelated to my two previous one. Think of it as a totally alternative universe where Zootopia's original plot with Wild Times is blended in with the current Zootopia movie. Also, Nick grew up with a little more violence making him not only cynical but** _ **dangerous**_ **not because he wanted to, but because he had to**. **This will be fun WildeHopps story!**

"It's called a hustle sweetheart~" she quipped with a high pitched mocking tone alluding to the fox's own snarky remark. Her wrist on her hip while the other paw held the carrot pen.

Nick stared at her in awe and disbelief. The fennec fox in the stroller began to laugh, "She hustled you…" he teased. His laugh got exponentially louder as his deep voice now boomed, "She hustled you GOOD!"

He stood up from the stroller as he began to peel his cute cop sticker off his costume and grabbed Nick by the collar, "You a cop now Nick! You gonna need one of theeeese." He slapped the sticker on him before hopping out of the stroller.

"Have fun workin' with the fuzz!" He teased once more before walking toward the alleyway cackling all the way shaking his head and holding his stomach.

Nick's face now showed a frustrated and irritated expression as he pulled his paw down his face letting out a groan. _I can't afford to do this right now…_

From the corner of his eye he noticed Finnick give a small gesture toward the alleyway. The alley had a shoddy wooden door and fencing for an entrance.

Nick nodded very slightly at Finnick's direction as the small fox pried open the door.

"Start talking!" Judy demanded.

"Alright… look… I don't know where he is I only saw where he went."

"Ok great! Let's go!" She commanded in a happy tone.

Nick thought about what to do while he watched her get into the meter maid car.

Suddenly he spoke up, "Actually, I know a faster way there and it's best if we don't drive around in that 3 wheel joke-mobile."

Judy glared at him, "I'll have you know this vehicle, though small, is a very capable machine of the ZPD an-"

"Exactly, this place that we're going… they're not gonna let us in if you're clearly from the ZPD."

"Then I'll just return with a warrant." She answered quickly hoping to force Nick to think of something else, but to her dismay, he remained adamant.

Nick gave her a half-lidded smirk before chuckling a bit, "Think about it rabbit, you get a warrant, you walk to their front door with your cute fuzzy wuzzy little tail and then what? Now they know you're a cop, all they have to do is slip out the back. And by the looks of it, you won't be getting any backup seeing as how you're just an adorable little meter maid."

Judy had her face scrunched in anger the whole time he was mocking her, but slowly relented as she realized he was right... she didn't have any help in all of this. In fact, it almost seemed like Bogo was hoping she'd fail.

She thought about it for a moment with her carrot pen pressed against her cheek.

"Alright fine. You lead the way, but I swear, fox… if you try anything funny I could have you..." she proceeded to list a multitude of ways she could have him incarcerated.

As he watched the small bunny threaten him, he couldn't help but smile a little.

"Hey are you even listening?! What's so funny?!" she demanded with a stomp.

"Oh." He chuckled before scratching the back of his head. "Sorry, you're really cute you know that?"

Her eyes widened as she turned a little to hide her blush. _Why am I even blushing?_

She quickly turned to face him once more, "Don't call me cute! You can't call rabbits cute!"

Nick shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever you say, officer toot toot. We gonna keep flirting, or do you want me to take you to the otter?"

Her face reddened some more as she had one finger pointed at him with her mouth gaping speechless. _Flirting?_ _What. I-_ "Wha-You." She growled before taking a deep breath.

"Take me to Emmit Otterton, fox." She ordered.

"My name's Nick, ya know."

"Ok take me to Emmit Otterton, **Nick.** " She reiterated.

"Yes, Ma'am." He flashed a charming smile at her before walking toward the alleyway.

He pushed open the wood door with a bit of effort and gestured her follow. "After you, ma'am" he offered with a nonchalant smile.

She eyed him suspiciously as she walked into the alleyway.

The floor was littered with drink cups and food containers, there was also a large van with an interesting fox mural painted on it.

 _Wait a minute, that's the small fox's van._

Before she could put anymore of the other pieces together, she heard the wooden door slam behind her.

She quickly turned around to see that the fennec fox was hiding behind the door the whole time, she watched him latch the door. Her eyes quickly focused on Nick now who was no longer smiling and wore a rather calm and expressionless half-lidded stare.

His stare sent chills into her spine, she began to look for a way out, but to no avail. She was totally boxed in by buildings and concrete wall behind her.

Nick began to advance toward her still wearing that terrifying look.

Her fur stood up high as her mind shot into panic, but her body followed the ZPD training as she held one paw out to distance herself and her other paw to deploy her fox repellant.

 _My fox repellant… wh- where is it?_ Her paw searched franticly finding nothing but the leather of her duty belt.

Suddenly Nick stopped advancing toward her as a small smirk returned. He lifted a small bottle of fox repellant out of his own pocket.

 _He swiped it from me_. _That shifty little-_

"Looking for this, rabbit? What? You didn't think I noticed this little article the first time we met?" He shook his head. "You really are as dumb as a bunny, aren't you?" He tossed the repellant back toward Finnick who caught it with one paw.

She felt her body tremble a bit as her nose twitched. _Why am I scared? This is what I've been train to do!_ But something about foxes seem to stir an intense and instinctual fear within.

"I'm warning you two, assaulting an officer can earn you life, or worse, in prison!" she threatened as she continued to slowly back toward the wall.

Nick began to slowly advance toward her. "Oh yeah? And who's gonna know after we take care of you?"

Judy's eyes widened. "You won't get away with this, there are cameras everywhere."

Nick shook his head as he continued to slowly advance toward her, she felt her back touch the wall. She was completely trapped now.

"Cameras? Where?" His paws gestured everywhere in the alley way.

He was right, there were no cameras, she also didn't have her radio… she left it in the meter maid car. Judy began to sweat as her heart was racing.

Finnick just smiled while leaning against the wood door.

 _I have to get to the door._ She began to devise ways to escape.

"Listen, cottontail. There's only one way out of this alive, and that is… you gotta come with us."

"Like heck I am!" she yelled in protest.

Nick sighed as he was now just a few feet away from her before he stopped "Look, I don't wanna have to do this. I think you're a great meter maid, it doesn't have to be like thi-OOF!"

He felt a swift kick to his stomach as he doubled over.

She sprinted as fast as she could toward the door obstructed by the small fennec fox. As she closed in on him, she noticed he didn't even try to move, he simply continued smiling at her leaning against the door.

 _What does he think he's-_ "AHH!"

She felt her two ears yanked back as the rest of her body was tossed all the way back to where she started near the wall of the alley way.

She landed with a loud thud as she writhed and groaned in pain.

Nick let out a loud sigh as he walked over to the fallen rabbit and crouched down next to her, "See… officer toot… that wasn't very nice of you." He grabbed her by her ears again as he pulled her off the ground.

She screamed from the violent jerk upward, it hurt a lot; she could almost feel them being torn off of her head. Her reflexes set in as she tried to kick him once more while she was suspended in the air.

Somehow, Nick blocked each kick with just his other free paw effortlessly.

She was shocked at his defensive skills. He's no ordinary crook.

Nick didn't hesitate, he swung her into the wall smashing the side of her entire body into the wall producing a loud **THUD.** He continued to do so four more times.

The first one hurt. She yelled out in pain.

The second one dazed her.

The third one made her limbs go limp.

The fourth one, she felt her vision and consciousness start to slip.

He dropped her on the floor as her head was swimming in every direction. She struggled to get up but the cocktail of pain, nausea, and dizziness kept her down. Judy clasped her head in agony as she fought the urge to throw up. Her vision blurred as she saw stars floating around her.

She could barely see, but noticed a blurred red furred figure standing over her again. She put one paw up toward his direction to attempt to block oncoming hits as she let out a small whimper.

Nick crouched down again beside her, "Stay down, please." His voice was oddly sincere and almost pleading as if all the humor had drained from him.

She struggled defiantly. After about a good 30 seconds of writhing and getting up and falling, she managed to barely stand on her two feet again. She was panting heavily from the fatigue and pain she endured. Judy balled her paws into a fist and stood in a weak and clearly unbalanced fighting stance.

"Pretty impressive for a bunny." Finnick remarked as he scoffed.

Nick could tell Judy was standing by sheer willpower, but her ability to fight was already neutralized.

He walked up to her and gave her a light shove, and she fell right back down to the floor.

Judy tried to scurry back onto her feet but to no avail, her head was spinning.

Finnick cackled aloud. "So Nick… Watcha gonna do now?"

Nick scratched his head and shrugged. "I guess I just gotta keep beating her till she swears she won't tell, and then throw her somewhere far away from Zootopia."

Finnick frowned.

Nick raised an eyebrow "What?"

"You know the boss doesn't like loose ends, Nick." He reminded.

Nick let out an exasperated sigh.

The two fox stood there awkwardly as the poor rabbit writhed on the floor in pain.

"And she's a tenacious one, look at her. She's not even begging for her life yet." Finnick continued.

Nick sheepishly tried to refute his implied suggestion, "Yeah… Look I was thinking maybe for this one we don't have t-"

"You wanna explain to the big bear later how ZPD knows about our little operation when the little bunny finally finds a fucking phone?" Finnick sternly asked.

Nick stared at him for a while before letting out a defeated sigh. "Alright… But you know how I hate doing this."

Finnick scowled at him "I don't care, big boss don't care either. Just get it done."

"Fine." Nick huffed as he idly looked up to the sky.

The small fox crossed his arms "How are ya gonna dispose of this one?"

Nick looked back down at Judy who was now trying to crawl over to the door.

"Can I borrow your van?" Nick suddenly asked.

"What the hell for? What you think I am? A rental service?"

"No, I was just thinking…" Nick twirled his paws a bit in the air. "Since she's a bunny and all, I figured… I'd give her a try." He bared teeth widely and winked.

Finnick stared at him confused.

Nick rolled his eyes. "I think I'll just eat her. It'll be clean and no evidence."

Finnick continued to stare at him with a deadpan expression.

…

…

…

…

Finnick stared at Nick some more but then suddenly bursted out laughing while shaking his head.

"OH GOD NICK. That's nasty! Oh… Geez… That's… That's just sick." He continued to shake his head as he tossed his keys to Nick.

"Oh...WHOO! I didn't think you had that in you, sly guy! That some fetish of yours or something? You gonna rape her corpse too, you fucking psycho?!" He broke out into a booming laughter again as he made his way over to exit the alleyway still shaking his head.

Finnick had to wipe the tear coming out of his eye as he pushed the door open, "Oho… Shit! Just let me know when you're done ok, you sick freak. Ciao." Finally, he left Nick and Judy alone in the alleyway.

By now, Judy was in shock from what she just heard. Her greatest childhood fear, besides failure, had been realized at this moment: she was going to be eaten by a fox… alive.

A new surge of adrenaline shot through her body. She managed to wobbly pick herself up from the floor and tried once again in desperation to sprint out of the alleyway.

From Nick's peripherals, he could see the small gray mammal's attempt at a getaway.

He let out a frustrated groan, "Hey! Stop! Don't- AGH…" He shook his head as he chased after her.

Judy ran as fast as she could in her current state.

She was closing in on the door, just about a few meters when suddenly she felt paws grab her ankles tightly as she fell to the floor. As a final act of desperation, she resorted to screaming for help. She couldn't help but start crying a little as her helplessness overtook her senses. She felt like fly trapped in a spider's web.

Nick panicked as he tried to shush her, but she wouldn't stop struggling and screaming.

Finally, after 10 more seconds of letting her scream, he quickly mounted her back and put her in a tight rear naked choke. Judy's ears sprang up high.

He could hear her gagging from the pressure now squeezing her little neck. Her paws weakly and franticly pawing at him in vain.

Nick shut his eyes tightly as if trying to shut out what was happening.

Finally the gagging and struggling stopped as her limbs fell totally limp along with her ears.

Nick quickly released her as he sat back against the wooden fence panting from the intense mess.

After a couple minutes of resting, he finally got up and carried her to the back of Finnick's van.

He laid her limp body down on the air mattress inside.

He let out a quick sigh once more as he ordered the seemingly unconscious rabbit to "Stay put… please."

As he turned away to exit the vehicle… **zssssssk.**

He turned quickly to see he was now handcuffed to the small rabbit officer.

She was on her knees with her head facing down as she spoke in a laborious and weak voice, "You are under… arrest… You have the right… to remain silent… anything yo~" Suddenly she fainted and fell face first into the mattress.

Her body had finally succumbed to the fatigue and injuries she had sustained.

Nick just stared at her in surprise with eyes wide open. He could barely believe what just happened.

He smirked a little quite impressed by her perseverance. _Not just a frail and cute little bunny after all…_

He exited the van and re-entered in the driver's seat. He placed the key into the ignition and started the car.

For about a minute, he just let it run as he contemplated his next move. He raised one paw to rub the bridge of his snout in frustration. _What the hell am I gonna do? Boss is gonna kill me if she manages to tell anyone about this…_ He looked back at the sleeping rabbit, for some reason he couldn't help but feel something odd.

…

….

…..

The car engine continued to run.

He took a deep breath as he closed his eyes.

After a minute, his eyes snapped open. He made a decision.

 _I'm gonna do what I have to do. I'm gonna take care of the this._

 **BUT WHAT DAT MEAN RIGHT? :OOO Hope y'all enjoyed this new parallel universe I whipped up. It was fun to write. If y'all like it, please review and follow.**

 **As for Taste of Rabbit, I think I will continue it when I have new ideas but right now this story seems to flow a little better for me!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey b's much loves to your loves of this new series. Have some more. Hiya!**

Judy awoke to strange noises.

It sounded like someone was squeezing the inside of a grapefruit repeatedly while breathing really hard.

…

…

…

She felt tugging on her abdominal region.

Her vision was still blurred, but after a few hard blinks she managed to regain some clarity.

Slowly she looked down. Her eyes widened as her mouth gaped.

A red fox has his snout buried inside her stomach. She saw him pulling out her insides with his blood stained teeth. His fur was also covered with her blood.

She gasped in horror and suddenly her body felt a great discomfort, a pain not sharp nor dull… something terrible she's never felt before.

 _Am I dying?_

She choked a little as she watched helplessly as the fox kept tearing her further and further apart.

For some reason she couldn't scream, nor could she move. She was just stuck there forced to watch this horror unfold.

Suddenly the fox's green eyes fixed onto hers. A piece of her flesh still hanging from his mouth.

His feral gaze locked deeply onto hers. The red vulpine bared his teeth before making a deep guttural growl.

Judy's eyes widened even further using everything in her power to move her body, but it just wouldn't budge.

The fox leaned in slowly still growling…

…

…

Suddenly, his jaws clamp down on her neck she felt the canine teeth pierce right through. She let out a blood curdling scream.

Her eyes shot open as her body jolted.

Judy was covered in sweat. She looked around franticly panting in fear and borderline panic.

Quickly, she checked herself for any wounds. She immediately lifted her shirt to expose her light gray stomach. _Still there, oh thank heavens…_ She sighed in relief. Her body relaxed as she settled back in the nice king sized bed, she shut her eyes….

 _King sized bed?_

Her eyes opened again. _Where am I?!_

She quickly sat up and looked around. The apartment was definitely not hers, it was much larger and poorly organized.

Suddenly she felt a large wave of pain shoot into her head and side. It hurt so bad she had to lie back down.

 **Click-clack**

She turned her attention to her left paw. Judy saw she was pawcuffed to the metal frame of the bed. She pulled at it to confirm this was real. _Yep. That's real._ She searched around for the keys.

Someone seemed to have relieved her of all her gear, she only had the blue police uniform on but her vest and belt were gone.

Her heart raced a bit in anticipation of what's to come. She sat up slowly to scan the details of the room and hopefully find the key to the cuffs.

A bedroom mirror. A wardrobe closet filled with light green aloha shirts and khaki pant-

 _The fox._

Now she was worried as she slowly recalled the events in the alleyway. _Wait… I only have 48 hours to find Otterton. It's already been a day!_

Judy tried tugging at her cuffs again hoping to find a way to slip out of them, but Nick had secured them on good.

After she cuffed him in the van and he brought them here, he simply took her keys and liberated himself and secured her onto the bedframe.

 _There's gotta be a way out._

She tried to calm herself, and began to analyze the room carefully.

The pain was really starting to set in though as that raging headache seemed to get worse the longer she stays conscious.

Her paws fiddled through the contents in the nightstand. _Nothing._

It seemed like there were things inside, but Nick must have taken the precaution to not leave any articles of interest for her.

She persevered for as long as she could, but the pain was too incapacitating. Finally, she surrendered and lied back down into the bed moaning in pain clasping her head.

She curled into a ball hoping to suppress the pain through finding physical comfort. It proved to be of no help.

For about 30 minutes, she rolled around incessantly in the bed trying to find ways to quell the endless torrents of agony.

…

…

Judy's ears suddenly sprang up. She heard someone unlock the door outside.

 _Someone's coming._ Quickly she tried to fake sleep.

…

…

She could hear some paper bags crunching and folding outside as it was set down on a chair or table.

…

After a couple of minutes…

Nick walks into the room to check up on his "hostage."

For a few minutes, he just stared at her.

She tried her best to ignore the horrible headache and body aches, and maintained a sleeping appearance.

She heard Nick pull up a chair next to her bed as he placed a bundle of keys near the nightstand.

One of her ears twitched up slightly.

 _Darn it. I hope that didn't give it awa-_

She suddenly felt his paw on her forehead. He gave it a gentle rub as if checking on her temperature like how her mother used to do when her siblings got sick.

She heard him sigh as he got up from the seat and slowly made his way over to the door.

Judy kept quiet and calm. She waited patiently for his to exit the room.

…

…

…

"Ya know…" she heard his voice suddenly which startled her a bit. "The key's under your pillow."

Her eyes opened. _He knew. But how?!_

She slowly turned to face him. Part of her wanted to burrow into the bed in fear, but she would never allow herself to do that.

She reached her paw under the pillow and sure enough… the key was there. She quickly grabbed it and unlocked the pawcuffs.

Nick let out a small chuckle, "For what it's worth… you're a pretty decent actor. You just gotta work on that silly little nose twitch."

Her eyes quickly narrowed to check her nose. It was twitching away. Nose twitching was something very few bunnies in the world had control over. They were a sensitive and emotional bunch, couldn't help it…

Judy cursed her genetics under breath before glaring at Nick. She tried to stand up, but her body would not permit it, so she remained sitting in bed but distancing herself as far as possible from him.

She pointed at him in a threatening gesture.

"You… are in serious trouble, I hope you know that." She spoke angrily. "You will be getting at least 10 life sentences for assaulting **and** kidnapping an officer of the law. If you let me go now, they might go easy on you and give you two life sentences with chance of paro-"

She winced and let out a small yelp as she felt his paw suddenly on her cheek, he gave it a gentle rub. Her eyes were squinted and her paws up in anticipation of an attack. Her face heated up from this interaction. His eyes were focused on something on her face.

A few seconds of rubbing. "Hmmm… Hold on, Carrots."

Nick exited the room for a brief moment as he returned with a small metal container, the paint on it was scuffed bad. It looked like an old lunch box.

He opened the box letting out a small squeaking from the old hinges. He searched through it quietly before pulling out a couple of small band-aids with cute little fox faces on them.

He gingerly put the band-aids on her cheek. Her cheeks went flush as her eyes perked up and her eyes widened. His eyes were focused and his lips were pursed as he completed the task.

Judy just watched him do this in total awe and confusion, her finger still pointed at him and her mouth half open in mid sentence.

Finally, after about a minute of awkward silence while he put the bandaids on her, he finished.

Nick leaned back to inspect his work. He gave her a smug smirk clearly proud with how it looked.

"That's got it. I'm sorry. Go on." He sat back in his seat with his hands together on his lap.

Judy just stared at him. Her mind went blank.

…

…

…

"You were sayin… If I let you go… parole… me assaulting you…" he calmly reminded her.

She blinked many times before regaining her train of thoughts, "Uh…err.. yeah! You… You… assaulted me! Er… I'm an officer and… and that's against the law! So you better let me g-ahhhh….."

The raging headache returns with magnitudes greater pain rendering her unable to complete her threat.

Nick sighed as he searched through his metal box again. He left the room for a short moment once more and returned with a glass of water and two pills in the other paw.

He placed them on the nightstand.

"Take that. It'll ease the pain. And it'll let you sleep."

Judy stared at the pills.

She looked back up at him. "I'm not eating poison! I don't have time for this, Nick! I gotta get out of here, I gotta find Emmit Otterton!"

Nick just stared at her. His expression was cryptic, she couldn't get a read on him at all.

"Please… I'll even let you supervise me the whole time… just let me find the otter so he can get back to his family… and after that… I'll come back to be your hostage… an-"

Nick closed his eyes as he shook his head slowly.

Judy stopped talking not knowing what he meant by this.

…

…

Nick let out a small scoff.

"You're really something else you know that?"

She didn't know what he meant by that, but it felt like a compliment somehow. "Please! Just let me g-"

"Sorry for beating you up." He apologized.

Judy took a moment to absorb this bizarre and random apology.

"S-Sorry?... You're… sorry? What does that even mean? You think being sorry means I'm going to just forgive you for beating me half to death? You think the law is gonn- You're sorry?!" she was so frustrated by him she could hardly speak right.

She thought this fox was shifty and dangerous and weird and evil and charming. _Charming?_

"No. But I'm sorry…" he apologized again. This time Judy didn't reply. She was speechless.

…

…

"Anyways. I'll find Otterton for you and make sure he returns to his family, ok? I'll leave an anonymous tip saying Officer Judy Hopps found him."

Her ears perked up. She was now staring at him inquisitively. She is utterly confused by Nick's motives, there was something about him that was… different and convoluted. Like he a million layers in that mind of his.

…

…

"Why are you doing this? What do you want from me?" she asked sternly.

Nick exhaled through his nose softly as he averted his gaze toward the wall.

…

…

"To be honest? I don't know… I don't know why I'm doing this. You just… seem… different. And what I want from you is to take those painkillers and get some rest. And I'll take care of your otter problem, deal?" his face was serious. He extended a paw out to her as if to strike a deal.

She was still confused by the mannerisms of this strange fox. Without even knowing it, she extended her paw and shook his.

"Great. See ya." He closed the metal box and exited the room.

"Wait!" she called out.

He stopped in the doorway and peered back.

"…you haven't locked anything." She wasn't sure why she reminded him, like she was helping him keep her bound.

"Are you saying you're going to break the deal and run away?" he asked.

"…" For a moment she didn't know what to say. "…How do I know you're not going to break the deal too? And how do I know these aren't actually poison?" she asked.

Nick sighed as he turned fully to face her.

"It's called trust, sweetheart. And I **trust** … that you'll be here when I come back. And I know you will. I know you will cuz I'll uphold my end of the deal. Alright? Just don't break any of my stuff thanks."

Before she could reply, he exited the room.

…

…

Suddenly he returned again with one finger raised, "and to answer your other question… Just think about it… I can't eat a rabbit with poison coursing throughout her whole body…"

She stared at him horrified.

Nick stared back in deadpan.

…

…

Suddenly, he broke out laughing loudly.

"Oh boy… you shoulda seen the look on your face! HAHAHHahaha… Classic. No but really, they're not poison. If you don't take it, the headache will just keep pounding away. So really… it's up to you. I'll see ya later."

With that, he finally left the room and the apartment itself.

Judy was still trying to comprehend that whole conversation they just had. He was such an enigmatic character. She was scared of him, but at the same time… she could not help but feel just a bit intrigued as well.

…

…

She turned her attention to the glass of water and the pills.

…

Judy thought about it for about a minute. Suddenly that sharp migraine returned like a pickaxe to the skull.

Without hesitation, she ingested the pills with liberal amounts of water.

As she lied down, she let out a tired sigh.

… _What the heck is going on?_

Within a few minutes, she was fast asleep.

 **I DUNNO JUD, but watchall think? Hope you guys like it so far! 3 XOXOOXOXOO**


	3. Chapter 3

**HEYyyyyyyyyyy. It's yo favorite 6-gendered writer, ShamefulPerson here! Hope you guys are enjoying the story. And remember, I send positive vibes internationally so order now! Shipping is free! However, if you tickle my marrow with a lovely review you'll get my limited exclusive offer of homemade Kool-Aid in a cute mason jar! Act now!**

… **I drank it all. Sorry.**

Nick casually strolled down the sidewalk of Zootopia—pawpsicle in hand. He had just finished swindling a few of tourists to buying a couple of fake luxury watches from him.

Wearing his typical aloha shirt-khaki pants outfit, aviator shades on, and his half-lidded gaze, he idly window shopped the stores he passed.

He stopped at a suit shop to admire the handsome dark grey suit on display.

He gave a slight smile.

…

…

Suddenly a memory…

A sad memory from long ago flashed in his mind.* (see A/N for reference)

He blinked hard and shook his head to dismiss the thought, he quickly turned away and continued his walk.

After a few minutes of soaking in the blazing heat of Sahara Square, Nick decided to relax in a shady area near a tree.

He let out a content sigh before lying down and really settling into the patch of grass surrounding the tree.

…

…

 **Bzzzz~**

Nick ignored the buzz from his phone. He let out another content sigh in an attempt to re-establish the serenity.

…

…

…

 **Bzzzz~**

"Ugh." He groaned in annoyance. He unlocked the screen to his phone. A text message.

From Finnick.

Finnick: "Is it done?"

…

Nick: "Yea."

…

Finnick: "You are nasty. How'd it go?"

…

Nick: "What do you mean?"

…

Finnick: "Oh come on man. Ya know… how'd it taste and all that weird shit?"

…

Nick: "You sure you're not the one with the fetish?"

…

Finnick: "Oh stfu. You did take care of it, right?"

…

Nick: "Yes. I gotta head back. I'll ttyl."

…

Finnick: "Whatever. Ciao."

Nick placed his phone back into his pocket. Letting out a tired exhale before shaking his head.

He stood there for a few moments before he swiftly turned around and headed back to his apartment. Something in his gut told him he needed to get back.

* * *

Judy awoke once again in the Nick's apartment in his king sized bed.

This time, she took her time waking up as she let out a loud yawn making sure to stretch out each of her limbs.

Surprisingly this was the best sleep she had since she got to Zootopia.

She scratched her head lightly and noticed the debilitating headache had subsided.

Judy was relieved. Slowly, she got out of the bed and exited his room half-expecting him to be there.

He wasn't.

She scanned around his living room and kitchen. Not a total mess, but could definitely use some cleaning up. She noticed the TV was on.

Judy spent a good 20 minutes going through all of his things and analyzing them hopefully to get a read on his lifestyle and/or personality. Though, he owned many trinkets and goods, they really didn't offer much insight into his life. No pictures, no diary, no memoirs, not even a goddamn post-it note.

Suddenly a thought struck her. _Why the heck am I even still here? He's a criminal. A no good dirty criminal who attacked me. I gotta get outta here, I gotta tell Bogo._

She quickly searched around the house and found her police gear neatly piled on the kitchen counter…and beside it… was a carrot.

She stared at it for a while in confusion. Judy struggled for a moment to understand the situation and what the hell this was all about, but realized she needed to prioritize escaping and reporting Nick to the ZPD.

As she suited up, her left ear sprung up as she heard something on the television. It was the news.

The moose news anchor spoke, "In latest news, a recently kidnapped otter Emmitt Otterton has been found today along with 14 other mammals in a clandestine biomedical facility in Cliffside thanks to the information provided by the ZPD's first rabbit officer: Judy Hopps."

Judy slowly walked toward the TV and sat down on the couch with her back straight and eyes wide open. Her paw reached for the remote, and turned up the volume.

The shot switched to a brief interview with Bogo.

The buffalo answered flatly, "We decided, given the complicated nature of the situation, that Officer Hopps' current whereabouts be kept unknown to the public in best interest of her safety. She did a fine job… and rest assured, she is safe. No further questions." He quickly exited off screen before dozens of newsmammals followed in his wake trying to clamor toward him with more questions.

The news anchor continued, "Mayor Lionheart has been identified to be the mastermind behind these illegal kidnappings."

The shot switched to the interview of the mayor as he was being detained and taken into custody.

He pleaded Officer McHorn on screen, "Wait! Please! You gotta understand! I was doing this for the safety of Zootopia! We still don't know why this is happening!"

"Tell that to the judge, scum." McHorn dismissed in a huff before shoving him into the squad car.

Judy stared at the screen in confusion. Something still didn't add up…

Suddenly, a rattling on the door handle.

 _It's Nick._

Judy didn't know why, but she panicked and tried to look for a place to hide. To her dismay, there was really nowhere to hide, so she devised to use her small size to adaptively stay out of his line of sight by hiding behind various furniture and objects in the apartment.

The door opened. She heard him grunt in frustration. _His voice was a lot gruffer today_.

"Oi!" he called out. "Nick! You in here?"

 _Wait… he's not Nick._

She very carefully, keeping her ears tucked behind her head, peered out to look.

He was a really rough looking, tattooed up, and scarred jaguar.

She quickly retracted back behind her cover. Some part of her wished it had been Nick that walked through that door. She was faced with yet another extremely dangerous mammal.

The jaguar walked up to the kitchen counter and scanned around.

…

…

Suddenly, he began sniffing the air. "Hmmm?" he hummed inquisitively as if picking up something very interesting.

He continued to sniff and track around the apartment. Every sniff he took seemed to bring him closer and closer to Judy's hiding spot.

Her heart raced. As the jaguar closed in on the couch, she tried to tiptoe around the corner just barely escaping his line of sight as he leaned forward to look.

"Hnnnn…." He continued to smell the air as if savoring the scent.

Judy held her breath so as not to make any sudden and unnecessary noises.

 **iCarrot phone ringtone sounds off**

 _Oh no._ She fumbled around to to silence the call coming from… _UGH MY PARENTS_.

The jaguar immediately turned to face the source of the sound as he leapt toward her hiding spot.

Judy did not hesitate as she sprinted straight for the door. Her body was still not fully healed as was evident by her slower than usual speed.

Just before she made it to the doorway… the jaguar's paw slammed it shut.

Judy's body lightly collided with the door as she slowly turned around to face this new and impending adversary.

She gulped as she looked up.

The jaguar was wearing a menacing smile as he slowly leaned his face in toward her.

His deep and throaty voice spoke out, "Ahhh…. So… **this** is Nick's new little plaything. I thought he ate you already." He chuckled a little to himself.

"Though I guess he was always just a spineless coward, that lowlife fox." He continued in a mutter.

For some reason, that statement struck a nerve in Judy.

She spoke up, "I am an officer of the ZPD. You better back off before-"

The jaguar just let out a laugh.

Judy winced a little at the volume of his hyena-like laughter.

"That's hilarious, officer McFluff." He took a step toward her

She glared at him, "I'm warning you. Don't come any closer."

The jaguar smiled at her with hungry eyes, "Ya know… Nick never mentioned how gorgeous you are hehehe… I guess you and I could have a little fun before I finish what he couldn't even start." His face progressively got closer and closer to hers as he slightly bared his yellow teeth.

 **PSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST!**

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! IT BURNS!" He clutched his eyes in agony as he recoiled back and fumbled around moronically knocking over DVD's and chairs in the apartment.

Judy had sprayed him directly in the eyes with fox repellant. She figured it might have an effect on other mammals too. And by the thrashing and screaming, she figured right.

"YOU!... YOU'RE DEAD." He shouted as he squinted at her with bloodshot eyes. Rage filled him to the brim as he deployed his claws and lunged at her.

Judy quickly dodged to the side letting him crash into the door. "AGH!" he rubbed his head in pain. He stopped to wipe his face with his paws in an attempt to rub off the repellant.

She inched toward him and hit him again with another liberal amount of fox repellant.

"AHHHH! YOU FUCKING RODENT. I'LL KILL YoU!" He shook his head violently as he clawed wildly in her general direction.

Judy evaded every attack with ease. The training at the ZPD really paid of-

Suddenly she tripped over one of many DVD cases lying around in the apartment.

As she fell, the repellant can slipped out of her paw and rolled underneath the couch. She let out a gasp before a horrible sensation dug into her arm.

"AHhhhhh!" Now Judy was screaming as she realized one of his sharp claws had pierced her forearm and held her to the ground.

The jaguar quickly mounted her and pinned her down before letting out a maniacal laughter in between his grunts of pain.

"Now… YOU'RE MINE." He clawed as her chest with his other free arm.

She screamed again. She kicked and struggled, but he was far larger and stronger than she was.

Luckily, the tactical vest blocked a great deal of his claws, only allowing the tips to leave four relatively shallow lacerations on her chest.

He blinked rapidly to clear his eyes from the stinging fluids of the repellant as he held her down.

Judy continued to struggle but felt her strength drain from the fatigue and blood loss.

She couldn't think though, her instincts to survive were in overdrive but she couldn't overpower her opponent. The condition she was in simply were not in her favor at all.

She grunted as she tried to free her arm, but he dug his claw deeper into her forearm making her yell out in pain as her foot thumped the ground. She felt all her strength leave her as she let out another pathetic scream.

The jaguar seemed to have recovered fully from the repellant as he now let out a small chuckle while pinning her down.

"Now… that wasn't very nice, little bunny. I think you owe me a little something before I tear you limb from limb… don't you think?" He gestured at his crotch with his lewd and suggestive grin.

Her eyes widened as a little bit of tears filled her eyes.

 _No no! Never! Not like this!_

She spat in his face. He winced a bit. "Never in a billion years, you sick freak!" she yelled at him.

He laughed quietly, "It's ok… I like a little fighting spirit before I make you beg me for mercy."

He used his teeth to rip away the protective vest exposing her blue police uniform. He buried his face into her chest as he breathed and chortled pervertedly.

"No! Stop!" She yelled. Her body was shaking from the fear and anticipation of the worst.

…

…

…

Suddenly the jaguar let out a yelp as he felt himself fall off her body.

Judy was still trembling and breathing hard. She quickly looked up to see Nick standing there behind the jaguar.

Apparently Nick had just struck him. Relief washed over her. For some reason, she was beyond glad to see him.

Nick was not smiling as he walked toward the jaguar with his hands in his pockets. He wore a focused and expressionless look. Judy's eyes widened, it was terrifying to look at for some reason. His emerald eyes were so cold… so calculating.

The jaguar struggled to get up as he clutched his side in pain, "Yo-you've got some nerve, Wilde…" He struggled to catch his breath. "Keeping this rabbit here… hoho… the boss will have your head for this…"

"Leave." Nick ordered flatly.

The jaguar stared at him for a while before laughing loudly. "You serious? You defending this fucking roden-"

"I'm not tell you again, David." He threatened as he stepped forward toward the jaguar.

"Why you… dirty FOX!" He swung at him with feral hooks and haymakers.

Nick not only slipped and ducked every strike, but counterpunched in between every one.

Nick's strikes were very minimalistic in movement and extremely efficient.

The jaguar tried to catch him with a straight cross but Nick simply bobbed to the left while simultaneously employing an overhand punch to his orbital.

The jaguar was punished for each and every strike he took at Nick.

The jaguar tried to uppercut him, but Nick simply moved his head slightly to the right and caught the jaguar's jaw hinge with a solid left hook. Judy heard something crack in the jaguar's face, she cringed a bit from the horrid sound.

"Arrrghhh!" The jaguar fell to the floor while clutching his jaw. He coughed out an alarming amount of blood as he tried to get up, but it was clear the shots Nick landed had turned his organs into bloody meat pulp.

"Yeeurr… gerrnnn… paaauhhhayy… fouu dish! Juhh wei teel thuh both ffen au! (you're gonna pay for this! Just wait till the boss finds out!)" he slurred the best he could with his dislocated and busted jaw.

Nick didn't even reply, he simply walked toward him still wearing that expressionless and calculating look. The jaguar quickly scrambled to his feet and ran out the door clutching his jaw, his blood trailing on the floor.

Nick and Judy just watched him flee.

As he left, Nick walked up to the door then closed and locked it. He let out a tired sigh before turning to Judy with a half-lidded frown.

Judy was wide eyed from what she had just witnessed. Nick… was something else.

Nick crouched down next to her once more with a concerned look on his face, "are you ok?" he asked in a low tone.

She just stared at him with her ear perked and dumbfounded look before stammering out, "Y-yeah… Thanks."

Nick sighed before going back into his room to return with the metal box.

"Relax, Carrots. I just gotta check how bad this is." He laid her down as he appraised the wounds she sustained.

He muttered angrily, "…that son of a bitch…" He started to clean and sew up the lacerations.

Judy watched him in awe. She was still all too stunned and confused to even feel the pain of the threading needle.

…

…

…

…

30 minutes passed like this as Nick worked tirelessly with furrowed brows to fix her up.

Finally, Judy spoke up.

"I don't…" she started.

Nick raised an eyebrow as he continued sewing, "Hm?"

"I don't… I don't understand what you…Uhm…" she thought about what to ask.

"What I am?" he finished for her.

"Well…no… but… yeah… I don't know… why did you beat me and kidnap me? Then… save me…?" She was struggling to find the right questions, but this would have to do for now.

Nick sighed, his face held a frown. "I told you I'm sorry already, rabbit." He was just about finishing up the last stitch.

"No… Nick… Why did you help me just then? Why didn't you kill me yourself? I keep hearing big boss and loose ends… and… it just doesn't make sen-"

He interrupted almost in an assertive voice "It doesn't need to ok? You don't need to get caught up in all thi-"

"But I already am! I don't even really know you, but something… something tells me there's a lot going on here… and you don't belong in the position you're in right now. I'm just trying to understand. Please."

"Look… I took care of your otter problem ok? And now, you're all fixed up. Why don't you just get your stuff and hop along out of here?" he suggested in a frustrated tone.

She raised a paw in question, "I- wait… you're letting me go?"

"Yes. Go. Before you get hurt again, you dumb bunny." He gestured toward the door as he looked away from her.

Judy slowly stood up with her eyes still fixed on him.

Nick stood just looking away.

Judy looked at him and then at the door, then back at him again. Something was tearing at her from the inside, she wanted to know more.

But eventually and reluctantly, she made her way to the door and exited his apartment without another word.

Nick stood there now by himself.

He stared at the ground.

Then at the small blood trails and pools everywhere. Suddenly, he felt a strange twinge in his heart. His eyes widened, but he didn't know what any of this meant.

 _What have I gotten myself into?_

 **A/N *reference to suit-topia with young Nick and his dad!**

 **Hey bromos. Hope y'all enjoying the badassery of Nick and the marrow tickling development of Nick and Judy's relationship in this one. Leave love and/or hate in the reviews. Also follow this story if you think I shouldn't immerse myself into a vat of 5 molar hydrofluoric acid! Your feedback and follows/favs are very appreciated it. I'll sacrifice more lamb to the blood lord Baal!**


	4. Chapter 4

WZ4

 **Hey sorry about the major delay guys!111one!11 I was pretty swamped with other things and honestly… I wasn't sure if y'all was enjoying this or not, so I felt a little unmotivated. But lately someone commented on the long wait, so here I ammm~~ with oooopppennn arrrrrmsss~ Enjoy the festoonities bebeh cekez!**

Judy walked down the street through Nick's neighborhood in a fast and nervous pace. Her head was low but her eyes were darting back and forth, her paws were clutching onto her folded uniform tightly against her chest.

For some reason, she was trying hard to cover her face. She wasn't exactly sure why, but right now she just didn't want to be noticed… she just wanted to go home and reflect on these events _alone_ as soon as possible.

It was a grueling walk. The region Nick was living in was especially hot during this time of the year, the heat from weather control was almost on full blast. Judy began to sweat profusely and searched desperately for an air-conditioned building before she was cooked alive by the heat.

Without discriminating, she quickly entered the first shop she saw. Her paw pushed open the door as the welcome cowbell attached let out a loud ringing.

The aircon shot waves of cool air at her seemingly melting fur, Judy gave a blissful smile while letting her head cock back slowly in delight. Her ears erected high hoping to catch some cold air as well. She stood there with open paws, a dumb smile on her face, and let out a satisfied and relaxed sigh.

She stood like that for about five minutes.

The pig sitting at the front table looked up from his newspaper giving her an inquisitive look then shaking his head before returning to his read.

He waved a paw in the air before speaking in a grunt, "All prices are negotiable, yellow tags are half off. Buy something, or don't." He had a thick Serbian accent.

Judy nodded wide eyed at him. She felt as the cool air continued to flow, her senses slowly came back to her. She looked around the shop, her nose twitched slightly as her curiosity piqued. It seemed to be an old electronics store.

The light was dim, the walls were stained brown, and the windows and shelves were caked with dust. There were a lot of old ham radios, wires, cogs, and various electronic doodads lying around; most of them looked broken _or just really old_.

The scenery of the shop was less than aesthetic and the smell wasn't particularly pleasant either. Had it not been for fiery air outside, the rabbit would never enter a store like this... at least not willingly.

Still pretending to be interested, she browsed around aimlessly. As the cool air calmed her mind, she began to find herself thinking about Nick and the whole debacle she was just in. The situation was still very confusing and complicated; it had almost felt like a weird dream… maybe even a nightmare.

She found herself staring at an old brass phonograph. Surprisingly, the metal was lustrous and reflective as opposed to everything else in the store which were mostly rusty and dingy. Someone must have taken great care of this ancient music player. She briefly glanced over at the owner before staring at the phonograph again.

Judy could see herself in the reflection of the squeaky clean brass. Her eyes widened as she noticed something on her cheek. She leaned in to get a better look.

It was the fox bandage Nick had put on her.

She touched it gently with her paw.

Unclear thoughts were floating around in her head. _Why am I even thinking about him? He's a criminal… he's a_ _ **criminal**_ _! He's a lowlife criminal. He tricks and terrorizes mammals for a living. I'm an officer of the law and he's just a-a conniving fox-_ Her eyes widened. Something in the back of her head scolded her for her bigoted labeling. But something else was brewing back there as well…

…

She furrowed her brows while deep in thought.

Something faint and fleeting told her he was more than that… Much more than that. The way he could fight, the way he oddly cared for her, way he talked, the way he protected her…

Still… he did hurt her really bad as well and he could just be a really good actor. _Ugh it doesn't make any sense_. She shook her head some more to dissipate the thoughts as she found herself now near the front counter where the owner sat and was reading his newspaper.

He briefly peered up at the brooding bunny before he shrugged and resumed reading.

Judy, still deep in thought, continued pacing around the store when suddenly Judy's ears perked up to the sudden outburst coming from the old television. The owner seemed to have turned his attention to the television as well.

"This just in! The ZPD raided a predators' cult facility this afternoon. More information will be disclosed by our field reporter, Bob Cattington. Bob?"

The screen cut to a bobcat standing near a large warehouse with a large sign that read "Wild Times." ZPD squad cars were everywhere along with news channel vans, and a hoard of photographers.

The bobcat in the suit began to speak, "Thanks Peter. We are live outside of an illegal establishment of what the ZPD believes to be the headquarter of a predatory cult called Wild Times. It's a facility that seems to promote and encourage predators to act upon their savage instincts. They charge an admissions fee and have disguised their violence inducing equipment as carnival rides. The ZPD has made sparse comments on whole the situation, but we do have reason to believe that this may be the cause of the increase in savage attacks during the past few months. Back to you, Peter."

"Thanks Bob. More on that later tonight, up next~…." His voice trailed off as Judy furrowed her brows and stared off blankly.

She couldn't help but feel something was deeply amiss… and everything that happened thus far is somehow related. A lot of things don't add up, but she knew she had to make a decision on her next course of action.

With a huff of determination, she quickly exited the store and hailed a cab.

A taxi pulled up. She quickly hopped in.

"ZPD Station. Precinct 1." She told the driver in an urgent tone. The beaver driver nodded.

* * *

"Nick!" A low booming voice beckoned.

"Get out of my way!" Nick growled as he shoved Finnick to the side.

"Nick! Don't be a fucking idiot!" The small fox obstructed Nick again.

"I said move, Finn." He pushed him out of the way again in an extremely tempered tone.

"If you get your ass arrested now. You're fucked, don't you get it?!" Finnick yelled out in almost a plea.

Nick stopped, but his rage and anxiety continued to rise.

"If you end up in the slammer, you're not gonna make anymore money." The small fox continued.

Nick just balled his paws into a fist.

"And if you don't make money. You can't pay him." Finnick walked in front of Nick with paws open trying to speak reason to him.

"And if you can't pay Koslov, you're dead! I'm dead! We're all dead!" He yelled out.

"FUCK KOSLOV." Nick's sudden outburst made even the always-tough fennec fox flinch.

"Wild Times is MINE." Nick shoved his own thumb to his chest. "It has been MY dream! This is all I have, Finn! I've got nothing else! If they take this from me… I don't…" Nick gritted his teeth in frustration as he threw his paws up. He was so close to giving more personal information than he wanted to.

…

They both stood there awkwardly for a while. Neither of them were happy with the situation, and both of them were at a loss of what to do.

"Let's just… calm down… and lay low for a bit… think of our next move." Finnick tried to calmly suggest.

Nick shook his head and his face had a beyond frustrated and irritated expression, "Lay low? And then what? Without Wild Times, we have no money to pay Koslov anyway! So we gotta go and get it bac-"

"Get it back?" Finnick scoffed. "Do you even hear yourself? How are you gonna get it back Nick?" He smirked at Nick in a challenging tone.

Nick opened his mouth but was quickly cut off.

"Huh? You just gonna walk up to the ZPD goon squad with your cute aloha shirt? Then what? Kick a couple of their asses maybe if you're lucky?" Finnick asked in a mocking tone. Nick was unamused, but unable to respond.

Suddenly Finnick's eyebrows furrowed deeply in anger before yelling at Nick again, "They'll tranq and taze you so fucking much, it'd make your dick fall off, you dumbass!"

His voice boomed, and Nick's gaze slowly fell to the ground. He was still enraged, but he knew Finnick was right. Just wished he wasn't…

…

…

Another air of silence as both of them contemplated deeply.

Nick closed his eyes as he let out an exasperated and exhausted sigh.

Losing Wild Times was killing him right now, and thinking about the ZPD probably in there touching and breaking everything was making his blood boil.

However, that'd be the least of his troubles if Koslov found out he was sent to prison. Koslov would, no doubt, have a few of his henchman silence Nick in his cell. Even if he could fend them off once or twice, he couldn't do it forever. Nick didn't have enough connections nor money to contest any of Koslov's orders.

Nick stewed in his thoughts when suddenly his mind drifted over to Judy.

 _Everything's been going to shit ever since I met that stupid blackmailing rabbit._ He let out a small "ugh…" as he remembered her face.

He tried flushing thoughts of her out as he tried to think about other things like how he was going to get money and lay low. No doubt Koslov would have some questions for Nick regarding the abrupt end of his main source of income. _I guess it's back to pawpsicles again…_

Still though… _I wonder where she is…_

* * *

Bogo heard his door open and shut.

His back was turned as he was shuffling through some papers behind his desk. "Didn't I say no walk ins? This had better be good otherwise I'll have your hea-" He stopped as his eyes widened.

Judy stared at him nervously as she sheepishly waved at him. "Hi Chief…" she laughed nervously.

He leaned in slowly toward her with a neutral expression. She slowly cringed back in anticipation of some harsh reprimanding.

…

…

…

He let out one heavy exhale through his nostrils. She winced, gritted her teeth, and shut her eyes in fear.

…

"Welcome back, Officer Hopps." He stated flatly.

She opened one eye, and then the second one before digesting his surprisingly positive demeanor.

"Impressive work on the missing mammals case, but I do expect a full report first thing in the morning."

She opened her mouth to express gratitude and relief but was cut off.

"HOWEVER" His voice boomed. "Next time, I expect you to report _directly_ to me not through some 'anonymous tip'." He air-quoted the last two words with his hooves.

She nodded quickly and anxiously.

"Where were you anyway?" He suddenly asked.

"I-" she squeaked

"Nevermind. Don't care. I better see every detail of your investigation in the report. Dismissed." He sat back down in his seat.

Judy raised her finger to say something but shut her mouth again as she slowly walked toward the door to exit.

"One more thing." Bogo's voice suddenly spoke again as her ears perked. "Mayor Bellwether would like to speak to you personally, give her a call at city hall sometime."

"Me?" Judy asked.

"Don't ask me." Bogo stated dismissively as he raised both eyebrows focusing on his work.

Judy stood there for a few seconds before taking a deep breath and walking to the doorway …

…

She stopped again.

Suddenly, she thought of Nick again. She thought about the kidnapping, the beating, the mentions of the "big boss," the closure of Wild Times. It was all too overwhelming, but Judy felt she really needed to find out a little more.

"Uhm…" She started.

Judy began to contemplate just turning Nick in, she knew a lot about him already, more than enough to get him arrested.

Bogo looked at her with an eyebrow raised and nostrils wide open.

Judy just stared at him still deep in thought.

For some reason, she just… she couldn't just have him arrested. Something wasn't right, and she couldn't help but feel like Nick wasn't the one to blame. Something about him was… different… There was always great reluctance in his moments of violence, but genuine desire when he cared for her. _Ugh I sound like a Stolkholm syndrome victim._ But it was true… She could turn him in now, but she might never find out what was truly going on in this city… what was truly going on with Nick.

"Hopps. I'm very busy." He stated irritably almost in a growl.

"I know, sir! And I apologize… but I just… I need to know one thing." Truthfully, she wanted to know _many_ things, but she knew better than to press her luck. She let out a quiet awkward laugh.

The buffalo continued to shuffle through his papers as if not acknowledging her.

She cleared her throat before putting her paws behind her back, "What happened today? With the whole warehouse closure situation?"

Bogo let out drawn out annoyed groan before placing a hoof over his own face. "It's nothing to concern yourself with, I've already got officers closing the case."

She mustered up more courage and decided to press on "Who made it? And what was it fo-" Bogo quickly cut her off.

"Again, it's nothing to concern yourself with, Hopps. Some fox and his gang made it illegally themselves, used a medical clinic as a front for the whole thing. Probably crazed cultists or something like that. Tried to pass off the whole facility off to look like a carnival." Bogo shook his head in disgust.

He muttered under his breath, "You can never trust those shifty foxes." He put on reading glasses to help him read another report he picked up.

Judy's eyes were wide the whole time, ears perked, and nose twitching excitedly. "I uhh…" Her heart was racing; this was more information than she could have hoped for. Her instincts were totally right. _I bet this is all somehow related to Nick!_ "I gotta go… thank you, Chief!" Before Bogo could even respond, the grey rabbit was long gone.

He stared at the emptiness in front of his desk and let out another huff from his nostrils before directing his attention back to the reports.

* * *

Later that night…

Judy quickly left the precinct, took a long shower, put on some comfortable clothes and headed out.

Judy bussed to where Nick had kept her "hostage" or what was presumed to be his home. _Or safehouse…_

She got off at the bus stop and walked 15 minutes before reaching the doorstep of his apartment complex.

Judy waited for a tenant to exit the building before slipping in while the door was in mid swing. She impressed herself with her uncharacteristic slyness.

Without hesitation, she entered the main lobby. There were 2 elevators.

Luckily, she knew Nick's apartment number; having noted the number when he let her leave. She dismissed the elevators and quickly darted up the stairs and searched for his number.

Finally, she stumbled upon the door with the number she remembered.

Her ears drooped as her heart froze for a bit. A mixture of fear and anxiety set in. What would she say? Or do? Why was she even here? What if he decided to hurt her again? _He won't… I don't know why… but I'm sure he won't._

She stared wide eyed just remembering all the strange things that happened to her while she was kept in there.

She took one deep breath before knocking on the door. **Tok tok tok**

…

…

…

No response.

She cleared her throat awkwardly before knocking again. **Tok tok tok**.

…

…

…

Still nothing.

 _Maybe he's not home._

She cleared her throat loudly this time before calling out with some volume, "Nick?"

…

…

…

Some shuffling could be heard from inside.

The door handle rattled a bit. Suddenly the door was pulled open. The chain bolt still kept it mostly shut, she saw his green eyes peer through the crack of the door. He looked exhausted and nervous. His apartment seemed dark inside.

He looked around franticly as if in a hurry. Suddenly he peered down and laid his eyes upon her, his eyes widened.

She coyly smiled at him before waving. "It's me. Office-"

"Judy?" He cut her off as he quickly undid the chain lock.

The door swung open to reveal an extremely tired looking fox.

She'd never seen him like this. Usually, he was oozing with confidence and generally well-kept, but tonight… he was a mess—his clothes and fur were all ruffled and wrinkled.

He looked like he had seen a ghost. "Wh-what are you…?" His question trailed off, but Judy understand enough to attempt to answer it.

"I… I'm not… sure really…" She averted her gaze to the ground as she rubbed her arm with her other paw.

Both of them stood there for a minute waiting for each other to finish their thoughts, but it would seem both of their thought trains had hit brick walls.

She contemplated what it was she was really here for.

…

…

…

Suddenly she knew. She knew she wanted to know **everything** … and lowkey wanted to see him again for reasons unknown to her… With a wave a determination, she took a deep breath, her ears perked up.

Nick watched her in anticipation, but gave a slight smirk. He quipped, "You here to arrest me, Carrots?"

She smiled slightly, his humor somehow made talking a little easier. "No. Though I could and definitely should seeing as you broke dozens of laws already." She threatened half-serious half-joking. "But you did help me find Otterton, so I suppose we can overlook those… for now…"

Nick's trademark half-lidded smirk quickly returned, though his fatigue was still quite apparent.

He inquired in an amused and playful tone, "Well then, why are you here, fluffbutt?"

Her cheeks flushed ever so slightly from the new nickname, but she didn't let that distract her.

"Nick. I have questions and I need you to tell me everything. What is Wild Times and why did you make it?" she asked forwardly hoping her hunch was correct.

Suddenly his eyes widened, she could almost observe fear.

His paw quickly slammed the door shut in front of Judy making her wince at the loud noise. She could hear him rebolting all the locks.

She quickly knocked again. "Nick!" **Tok tok tok.**

"You best hop along now, officer. Unless you have a warrant, please leave!" his muffled voice could be heard.

Judy groaned in annoyance. She called out, "Nick! I'm not here to arrest you! And I'm not here to close down Wild Times! I want to help!"

There was a silence.

…

…

Suddenly unlocking sounds could be heard before the door opened again.

"Help? How the hell you gonna help me, meter maid? You gonna write them all parking tickets?" He leaned his muzzle close to her face as if examining her under a magnifying glass.

Judy retracted back at this sudden intrusion of space. "I…"

Nick stared at her with a demanding 'I'm-waiting' look.

She resumed, "I'm sure you started with the best intentions, so that's why I need to kn-"

"It doesn't matter." He cut her off.

"Well sure it does, Nick." She tried to reassure in almost a pleading tone.

"It doesn't matter what my intentions are, don't you get that yet? This is Zootopia. They now know about Wild Times and worst of all they know the owner is a fox. A shifty lowli-"

"Stop that!" She suddenly cried out.

Nick's eyes widened as his brows furrowed. He was thoroughly confused by her sudden outburst.

"I… I just can't stand it anymore. Enough with hearing foxes are shifty this… lowlife that… sneaky this… conniving that… I know it's not true!" she explained in a fit of anger.

Truthfully, these were generalizations she had made of him herself, but she realized creating labels are slowing everything she does down… and apparently everyone around her as well.

"You don't know me, rabbit…" he looked off to the side.

"Well I think I know a lot." She stated adamantly as one of her paws reached out to touch the fox bandaid on her cheek—the very one he put on her last time she was here. He stared at it in a bit with furrowed brows.

Nick stared at her not knowing what to feel or think. She would be the first mammal to ever place even a remote amount of trust in him besides his own mother and father.

She continued, "But I would like to know more…" Judy cleared her throat. "I think there's much more going on here, and… I want to help figure it all out."

Nick continued staring at her.

…

…

He chuckled lightly, "why… why would you want to help me?" He shook his head lightly still dismissing the notion of receiving help from a bunny police officer.

She thought about it only for a moment, "Because… you seem different."

Nick looked surprise. Remembering he had said the exact thing to her.

…

…

His paws idly tapped on the wood of the doorway as he contemplated…

…

…

Suddenly he let out a loud sigh and stepped back from his door while his other paw gestured her to enter.

"Alright… come in."

 _I really hope this isn't another horrible mistake_.

 **Whoooaa. Hope yall liking it! I promise more lovey shit coming in later. Needed to expedite the plot development a little more for that! Anyways! Please leave love/hate. All are welcomed! Follow if yall wish to find aut more! *drinks healthy amount of radiated kombucha***


	5. Chapter 5

**Bya bya bya~ Coming atcha wit a chapter fresh outta my butt. Get em while it's hot! Don't burn your tongue, you fat slug. Enjoy!**

Both of them were quiet as they entered Nick's dark apartment.

Suddenly, for Judy, everything went pitch black when Nick shut and locked the door.

Her heart stopped for a second and began to sniff around nervously at the sudden lack of visibility.

…

…

"Oh. Shit. I'm sorry… I forgot rabbits don't have night vision… hold on." He said still with some fatigue in his voice.

She winced when she felt the fuzziness of his tail brush past her foot. Her eyes were darting around back and forth. A sense of vulnerability was making her nervous.

Nick let out a small chuckle. "You… you scared of the dark, rabbit?" He suddenly felt a little more awake from his amusement.

Her eyes widened as her ears perked up toward the direction of his voice. "No, I-I'm not! Turn the lights on please!" she nervously replied.

An opportunity presented itself far too enticing for Nick to ignore. "Well… see… now I don't know if I want to… Come to think of it…" His voice dropped low into a creepy and almost perverted tone.

She felt a paw fall on her shoulder. Her body swung around in panic as she let out a yelp.

Nick laughed. "Oh god! This… this is too fun, Carrots."

Judy scrunched her face in frustration. "This isn't funny! Turn the lights on now, Nick!" She demanded again.

Judy tried to feel the walls for the light switch but was only managed to bump into furniture and trip over DVD cases. Each obstacle resulted in a grunt of frustration. Each grunt resulted in a chuckle from the smartass fox.

She finally decided to stop and try her luck at talking again. "Nick. Come on, I thought we were going to have a serious talk."

"Well we were! But then we started playing marco polo."

"I didn't start playing anything! You're the one wh-"

"Marco!" he yelled out.

She let out a loud "Grrr." As she flailed her paws around in front of her hoping to catch his stupid face in the blackness.

He laughed some more "Oh no… is the wittle wabbit ma- OOF" Nick was suddenly tackled to the ground.

He struggled a bit to catch his breath from Judy's oddly powerful and _accurate_ charge.

"Wha- How did you-?" he tried to ask, but realized how she did that after looking up at her.

Judy was smugly smirking in the darkness as she pointed at her own ears while mounted on top of him.

She giggled a bit before proclaiming victoriously and sneering, "I guess I _was_ playing marco polo after all, you dumb fox!"

 _Forgot about those perceptive ears… dammit._

Nick chuckled in between his coughing still trying to recover from the wind being knocked out of him.

"Alright alright… you win…" he relented.

Judy got off of him as she heard him stand up and walk toward the front door.

 **Click**

Suddenly all visibility had returned to Judy in a flash. It was so abrupt, both of them had to let their eyes adjust a bit. Nick took a longer time to get used to the sudden illumination on the account of his night vision. She heard him quietly muttering something before he walked into his room.

Meanwhile, Judy briefly looked around the living room. She noticed the blood stains and most of his scattered DVD cases were gone. The scratches and damage to the drywall were all still very much there however.

There were also a couple of suitcases on the floor. One was filled with multiple sets of Nick's signature 'outfit'. The other suitcase seems to answer the mystery of his missing DVD collection. _Is he going somewhere?_ She raised an eyebrow.

Judy also noticed the metal box, which he frequently brought out to give her medical attention with, sitting on the table in his kitchen. She slowly made her way over there.

Compared to his living room, his kitchen was pretty clean. The floor was nearly spotless and all his dishes were washed and put away neatly in the cabinets. She was impressed. _Why couldn't the rest of his house be like this?_

Nick suddenly appeared behind her. "How's the penny tour?" he asked suddenly, giving her a slight startle.

"Oh! Cheese… you scared me." She exclaimed then muttered.

He seemed rather pleased with himself. They stared at each other for a few moments before it got a little awkward. Nick was the first to break eye contact.

"So uhh… you want anything to drink?" he offered as he walked over to his fridge.

"Water's fine… please… and thank you." Judy answered a little sheepishly. She hopped up on one of the seats at the kitchen table. Her eyes were again fixed on the metal box.

…

…

"Here." Nick placed the glass of water down on the table before he took a seat himself letting out a tired sigh.

"Thanks." Judy quietly thanked him as she picked up the glass with two paws and took a big gulp. All the anticipation of coming to see her interesting ex-captor had really made her parched.

Nick watched her tank her water in intrigue. She let out a content and quenched sigh before setting the glass down.

"Thirsty?" he asked with a smirk.

She giggled awkwardly "yeah… didn't drink anything all day I suppose…" She scratched her ear a bit.

He did too.

"So… you moving somewhere?" She asked.

"Nah, just reorganizing." He answered flatly.

"Oh." She tapped her fingers lightly on the glass of the cup. _Of course he'd lie…_

…

"Yep." Nick tried to answer as nonchalantly as he could.

…

…

…

…

A long silence passed. Judy was here because of her curiosities, but suddenly seeing him again in such a personal and willing context really scattered her thoughts. Half of her didn't even expect he'd be here. Though she had pretty much planned and rehearsed her "interview of Nick Wilde" many times in her head, she was suddenly drawing a blank.

…

…

…

"Wow you just can _not_ take your eyes off of me, huh Carrots?" he suddenly asked. His smirk wider than ever.

She blinked twice before realizing she had been staring at him this whole time.

Her cheeks burned red. "No! I-"

"It's ok… There's not a female on this planet that can resist this." He circled his own face with his finger while wearing that infamous half lidded smug look on his face.

She laughed and rolled her eyes as much as she could, "Don't flatter yourself…"

He laughed as well. "Of course not, you do a much better job at it than me." He quipped.

She glared at him playfully before averting her gaze to the wood of the table.

 _This is so weird. I barely even know him. Why are we… flirti- no this is not what this is._

She shook her head lightly. Nick tilted his head intrigued by her engrossed expression.

…

…

…

"Ok… so… why _are_ you here?" he asked again.

Her ears shot up and her eyes widened. "Oh! Right… Why I'm… Why… I… I have questions!" She announced loudly in her last few words.

…

He raised both his eyebrows at her beckoning her to continue.

She didn't notice.

…

…

Nick smirked and waited a few moments. "Listen fluff, having questions but not asking them is like having no questions at all…"

"Oh! Uh. Right! Ok… so…" Her paw furiously tapped away at the table while she went through a series of "um's" and "uhh's."

Nick just stared at her with his paw under his chin and elbow on the table. His signature facial expression never faltering for a second.

…

…

"Wha…. Why did you… Uhmmm…" She wanted to ask this question, but she really didn't know how to start it.

…

"Why did you… hurt… me?" She asked quietly. Her eyes phased between sadness and curiosity.

Nick's eyes widened as he slowly looked down at the table too.

He began to twiddle his thumbs a bit.

"Look… Like I said… I'm really sorry about th-" He tried apologizing again, but was cut off.

She thought very carefully before she slowly articulated her full question to him. "No no… That's… that's not what I'm asking. I don't want to say I condone or forgive you for what you did… to me… but… Right now… what's more important to me is… I need to know why… ya know… why you felt like you had to do… that…" She kept her eyes fixated on the glass cup.

Judy looked up. A look of guilt washed over his face. She was a little excited that he seemed to express remorse at the mention of the event, so maybe her assessment of his true nature (being a good mammal) had a chance of being correct! Her heart raced a bit.

"Well the truth is… rabbit. You looked delicious and I wanted to tear you limb from limb and with my teeth. That's kinda what me and Finn do for a living." He told her with a stone cold tone.

…

…

…

"What?" her voice shook a little.

…

…

…

"Yeah."

…

…

…

"…" she stared at him in confusion, anger, and a bit of fear. She started to feel extremely uncomfortable.

…

…

…

"In fact..." He stood up out of his seat and began to walk over toward Judy. Her ears started to stand up. Her nose twitched like crazy, but she didn't retreat. She stayed in her seat staring into his green eyes.

He leaned in to exhale and sniff at her just 4 inches away from her face. Her ears stood erect. Nick even bared his teeth. "I think I should finish what I started." His voice spoke in a low growl.

Judy was frozen. Her body gave very slight trembles. Her instincts were screaming at her to get the fuck out and that she was right to think he was just an evil, crazy, criminal fox. But still, she did not budge.

 **Clack.**

Suddenly she saw him place her small bottle of fox repellant she used to hit the jaguar with in front of her.

"I found this under my couch." He sniffed once more. She felt a drip of drool fall on her thigh. She winced from its warm wetness. "You… can try use it… if you like…" He seemed to be challenging her.

She remained unmoving, though her limbs felt an uncomfortable tingly sensation.

…

…

…

"Pity. Just going to embrace death so courageously?" He asked in a mocking tone.

…

Judy turned to look him in the eyes. Her brows were furrowed but she didn't say a thing. He stared back into her resolute amethyst eyes.

…

…

Nick shrugged "Suit yourself." With that he snarled and, like lightning, his jaw clamped down on Judy's neck.

She let out a scream in pain and fear.

…

…

…

…

Nick remained still with his mouth still clamped onto her neck.

…

…

…

…

…

…

Nick muffled with his mouth full of rabbit, "You're a pretty dumb rabbit, you know that?" His gaze was half-lidded again.

Her two paws were on his jaw trying to pry it open. She took a few deep breaths. "How so?" she asked in relief that he didn't actually bite her.

He let go of her as he tried to help her wipe some of his slobber off of her neck. "If some savage predator was going to attack you, you're just going to sit there and let them have you for dinner?"

She looked at him and crossed her arms. "No, I just knew _you_ weren't, because you're not a savage predator."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah." She answered with more confidence.

"Then why did you scream?"

"Cuz it was still kinda scary. You're a pretty good actor."

"Thank you. How would you know I wasn't going to?" He asked again.

"I told you, remember? You seem… different. And plus, weren't you the one lecturing me the other day about _trust_?" She smiled slightly.

Nick couldn't help but smirk a bit. "Fair enough. I guess you really are something else, Officer Carrots. Alright… I suppose I can answer some of your questions." He pulled up the chair and sat down again to face her.

He rubbed his paws together and took a deep breath.

"I had to hurt you… because… Finn was standing right there."

"Your partner?" She asked

"Yes, he and I work for… someone important in Tundra Town."

"Who?" Her eyes widened with curiosity.

"I'm not sure if you want to go down this path, fluff."

"I do." She reassured.

"You sure?"

"Trust, remember?" Judy smiled a bit.

"Alright. We work for Koslov." He divulged quietly—almost whispering.

Her heart stopped as her eyes widened.

"You…" she tried to speak.

Nick sighed "Yeah…" he answered in a dejected tone…

…

…

"Anyways… Finn and I and a couple of other guys work for the polar bear, and basically I… well we… owe him some… well a lot… of money… So we needed to work hard to keep the cheddar flowing… But then… I met the goody-two-shoe energizer bunny here…"

He gestured at her. She just glared at him.

"You decided to blackmail and impede our work… Finn had already decided we needed to get rid of you or we can't get anything done. And we really needed to get our work done, Carrots… so we could pay Koslov."

Judy leaned in closer.

"Usually, we rough up loose ends good and that'd be the end of it… but… you're a cop. And on top of that, you're a crazy tenacious one." He chuckled. She smiled slightly taking it as a compliment.

"Yeah… I knew had to be the one that was gonna 'kill' you. If Finn took it into his own paws, you'd be… well you'd literally be everywhere by now." Both Judy and Nick were a little disgusted by the imagery.

"I was hoping you'd just cooperate with me and let me take you, so I coulda just driven you far away and instruct you to never return here again. Buuuut… I guess you had other plans and decided to try kick my ass. Sorry, at that point… I had to make a convincing show and on top of that… I really needed to discourage you from moving so damn much. So… well… you know the rest as well as I do." He scratched the back of his head uncomfortably.

Judy just nodded in acknowledgement, but her eyes were staring off the whole time deep in thought.

This made a lot more sense to her now as she nodded. Nick had to hurt her in order to 'save' her. Otherwise Finnick or some other henchman, like that rapist jaguar, would have had their way with her.

She shuddered a bit at the mere thought of that scarred feline.

Nick continued, "Yeah… Again I'm sorry. I tried to just bring you here and fix you up, but scumbag David decided to come in… and yeah… that was a mess huh?" He chuckled a bit trying to dilute the seriousness of the conversation, but it proved to be of no aid.

…

…

…

"That makes sense… in that case… Thank you…" Judy thanked him sincerely.

He looked up at her quickly looking almost angry. "Oh god don't do that. Don't thank me for hurting you ok? That's like… echh… Let's just say it happened and that's why it happened ok? Don't thank me please, that's so weird." He kept shaking his head, his eyes wandered off to stare at the wall.

She laughed a little, "Yeah it does sound weird I suppose thanking you for beating me up… but in a way, you did save my life. So I still thank you for that."

Nick looked back at her with eyebrows raised, "Yeah… well…" He scratched his chin a bit "I suppose some appreciation isn't so bad." He gave her a small grin.

Both of them fell silent again.

…

…

…

She took a deep breath and decided to inquire the touchy stuff "So… Wild Times…" she began.

Nick closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

…

…

"Yeah… I made it." He finally answered.

"So the money from Kosl-" She began to do a followup.

"Yeah… it was for that…" he answered quickly in a tired and almost sad tone.

"I see…" She replied quietly.

Now she saw the connections and the dilemma Nick's in. Now that Wild Times is shut down, Nick and his crew need to scramble for money. She began to feel terrible, since she was the one who told Nick to help save Otterton. But little did he know, it only promoted a social stigma against predators which eventually led to the closure of Wild Times.

…

"Nick… I'm so sorry. I should've never told you to go and save Otterto-" Her tone was somber.

He waved his paw in the air dismissing it. "Don't worry about it… With or without you, it was inevitable… I'll just have to try again someday hopefully… I appreciate the sentiments though." He smiled at her. She averted her gaze and her face flushed slightly.

…

"I'm guessing Koslov isn't the… negotiable type?" She tried to ask with a nervous smile.

Nick scoffed. "I don't think he even knows that word or anything synonymous to that. He seems to only know girls, power, money, and violence."

Judy pressed her lips together as she put her head down on the table, her eyes still above her elbows though. She tried to help Nick devise ways to get out of his little debt issue... But to no avail. They definitely couldn't turn to the ZPD either, they'd just arrest Nick.

…

…

"In addition to the debt, I have a brand new fucking problem. Now he also knows I tried to keep you alive. Not to mention, fuck up one of my own crewmates… He's probably coming after me tonight, or tomorrow… And… that's the real reason why my suitcases are out and about." He spoke calmly despite its rather alarming nature.

Her tone became anxious and concerned, "What? Nick. Maybe we can just go to the ZPD, you can testify against Koslov for all his crimes, I'm sure we could get you under protective custo-"

Nick laughed. Judy was just staring at him wide eyed.

He continued laughing so hard as he gripped his sides. A tear formed in his eyes from the laughter.

He wiped it as he continued laughing. Judy was not amused. Not amused at all.

Finally, his laughter slowly died down. "Oh rabbit… Whose side do you think the ZPD and Zootopia's government is on? The side of justice and righteousness?" He laughed a little again before rubbing his index and thumb together at her. She wore an confused look on her face.

"Money, honeybuns… Money keeps these politicians in their cushy seats of power. And where do you think that comes from?" He snickered and scoffed, "Honest taxpayers money? Pfffft~"

…

…

He continued, "There's something going on in the government right now… and I just got a bad feeling about that whole thing."

Judy stared at her cup stewing in her own thoughts. She had that feeling as well, but she just couldn't quite place her paw on it either.

…

…

…

Before she could comment, Nick suddenly darted over to her and covered her mouth. She let out a muffled yelp.

"Shhhh!" He ordered. She remained perfectly still and quiet as she scanned around the room looking for whatever it was he was referring to.

…

…

…

 **Squeak**

A slow floorboard squeak could be heard outside of Nick's door.

He quickly turned her to face him before whispering urgently, "We gotta get outta here." He quickly shut his suitcases, picked them up, and gestured her toward the window.

 _Oh no._

Judy didn't hesitate to follow.

 **Whoa ho ho ho~ Hope you guys digging it so far. Cuz I dig you guys, babez. Muchos luves and butt rubs.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey dudes. Yall gonna like this one. Shii~~~ spicay! I love you. Leave reviews. And tell me about your weekends, ever since you moved in with your mom you never visit me anymore, kiddo :/ Papa misses you.**

Judy couldn't see a thing. Her paw was gripped tightly by Nick's as he led her through the shadows of Zootopia. After 15 minutes of meandering around in the darkness, they seemed to have stumbled upon a rock bridge. It was a rather small bridge surrounded by weeds and grass.

This whole area seemed rundown and abandoned. No signs of any mammal living here at all. _Where the heck are we?_ Judy's ears were fully alert, ready to pick up any sounds of any threats.

"Come on." He gave her a tug at her paw. She simply nodded intently as she tried her best to stick close.

He led her to the underside of the bridge. It smelled moist and dank. By now, her eyes had adjusted slightly to the darkness. She could just barely make out a silhouette of a chair and a couple of large rectangular blocks. She felt his paw let go of hers.

Her noise twitched slightly. Nick must have been seeing just fine, but this apparently blindness she had was starting to feel a little uncomfortable.

"Nick…" she whispered loudly.

No reply.

"Nick?" she asked the darkness that surrounded her.

…

…

…

"Niiick. Where are you?" She refrained from yelling but was on the verge of doing so. Her paws felt around nervously in the dark. She had no idea where they were at this point.

…

…

She franticly looked all around her, flinching at any little grass rustle or wind howling in the night.

"Nick! If this is some joke! It's _not_ funny!" she whisper yelled in a suppressed, but angry tone.

…

…

Suddenly a light emitted near what appeared to be a lounge chair. She quickly turned to face it as she darted her toward it.

Nick was sitting in the chair with a match in his paw. There was a little lamp he lit on top of one of the large rectangular blocks which turned out to be a cooler.

He held his half-lidded smirk at her as he tossed her a beer.

She caught it and simply looked at it, then looking up to glare at him and his antics.

"I swear to god, Nick-" She began to scold.

He cleared his throat as he gestured to another seat in front of him.

She looked over at the chair and furrowed her brows before letting out a small protesting grunt. However, she still walked over and sat down. She placed the can of beer down on the ground next to the chair.

"Sorry about that, Carrots. I had to tidy my castle a bit. And to get a blind bunny a chair… and a lamp." His paw gestured toward it. She gave him a slight nod in gratitude still trying hard to maintain her annoyance with him. He continued, "I mean I can't expect my honored guest to sit on the floor in the dark, can I?"

Her deadpan broke at his stupid jokes. She rolled her eyes and smiled a bit. "And what a lovely kingdom you have here." Her voice was saturated with sarcasm.

He chuckled a bit at her remark. "I'm glad there's one other mammal in Zootopia besides me who has decent taste." He laid his head back and closed his eyes to relax.

She giggled a bit as they both settled into their oddly comfortable seats.

Judy let out a quiet content sigh.

The night was quiet. The little flame in the lamp flickered. Some crickets could be heard chirping in the blackness, and the wind passing made a very gentle and consistent breeze. Judy found herself rendered tranquil despite the rather exciting situation they were just in 20 minutes earlier.

…

…

…

The consistent gentle breeze grew a little colder.

…

Judy shivered slightly.

…

…

…

"So." She spoke up. "Where are we?"

Nick's eyes were closed, but he slowly opened them. He let out a yawn and stretched.

"Oh yeah. Sorry, about that. This is just a personal hideout of mine." He waved his paw in the air.

Judy looked around with her ears perked before turning to him again. "Under this old bridge? No offense, but isn't this…"

Nick finished her question "Too obvious? Not a great hiding spot?"

She scratched her ear "Yeah… I mean, you would know better than me! But… There aren't even any walls." She coyly chuckled.

He let out a small laugh. "Don't worry about it, fluff. It's worked out pretty damn well over the years. To be honest, I have no idea how it's been working either. I just noticed whenever I hid here, no one could ever find me. Not even my paren-." He cleared his throat quickly to cut himself off. He averted his gaze to the floor. The flickering light of the lamp reflected in his eyes.

Judy smiled slightly. She felt bad.

Nick looked up at her and smiled a bit too, but quickly returned his gaze to the floor as his smile dropped.

Judy stared uneasily at the floor too.

The awkward silence made her realize the implications of this bridge. _He probably had to do a lot of running and hiding_ _in his youth. And probably came here a lot to escape whatever trouble he was in…_

The thought made a faint aching sensation in her heart. She knew he was a hardened soul, she could tell by the way he spoke, acted, and fought.

Judy was the polar opposite, she had been largely sheltered and naïve for most of her life. A dumb bunny who wanted to be just as tough as he was, but still wanted to promoted justice and goodness. However, a lot of things changed… Coming to Zootopia and meeting Nick was her introduction to life's myriad ethical complications.

She had always viewed most of the world as black-and-white/right and wrong. But after being beaten then nursed back to health by the same criminal, but strangely kind, fox… her little existence was forced into an expansive world of befuddling moral gray-areas.

Nick cleared his throat loudly to break the silence. Judy quickly looked up.

"Anyways… They probably trashed my place already. So… best thing to do is just to stay here lay low for the night."

Judy nodded. Nick gave her a small smile before closing his eyes again and settling into his chair to sleep again.

"Rest up. While you can." He suggested through another tired yawn.

…

…

Judy nodded, but couldn't find peace to rest. She was beyond anxious. Nothing was relaxing about this current situation. Too many questions floating about. _What's going to happen tomorrow? What if they find him and catch him? Will they kill them? Will they kill me? I know so much already. What will the ZPD do if I disclose all this information to them?_ Her heart raced as discomfort and uneasiness gripped her heart. The uncertainty and seemingly impending danger made her restless and fidgety. _And it's so damn cold._ She began to develop a mild headache.

…

…

…

Nick peeked at her with one eye. He noticed her very apparent wiggling about and stress.

Suddenly, he decided he'd offer the preposterous.

…

…

…

"Don't sleep too well in the cold huh?" He asked with his eyes still closed.

Judy turned to look at the fox. She sheepishly chuckled, "yeah… nor do I sleep well in a beach chair."

Nick chuckled. "Sorry, I don't have the king sized bed you're used to, Princess Hopps."

She giggled half-heartedly that headache still very present.

…

…

"But if you'd like… You can come here." He offered, purposely leaving the "here" open ended.

Her ears perked up high. _Come where?_ She looked at him and noticed he scooted to the far right of his seat as if to make room on his left. _What does he-_

Suddenly she knew. Her face took on 100 shades of red. _He wants me to sleep next to him?! WHO DOES HE THINK HE IS?!_

She balled her fist a little as she furrowed her brows. Her body quivered a bit in anger and embarrassment. _He's got some nerv-_

"But if you're fine there, that's ok too." His tone was casual and nonchalant. He raised both his brows as he reclined into his seat again, but faced the other way letting Judy only see his back.

Truth was, his heart was racing ever so slightly as well… Maybe even a little more than slightly… and maybe even a lot more than that.

…

…

He pretended to sleep for a bit.

Judy was staring at his back with boiling rage and awkwardness.

 _That… that creep! I was wrong about him! He really IS just a-_

Suddenly a large gust of cold wind shot through the underside of the bridge nearly freezing Judy to a pawpsicle.

"Oh yeah, sometimes at night we get drafts from Tundratown." Nick casually mentioned. "So ya know… just stay warm." He let out a yawn before curling up quietly.

Judy continued to death glare the sneaky fox as she shivered a bit from the cold.

She curled up tightly too and turned her back too Nick as well. Judy let out a quiet "hmph" before trying to sleep through the cold…

…

…

…

…

20 minutes passed.

She could feel her buck tooth chattering and her scrunched nose twitching like crazy. _Ok this is way too cold._

She sat up and shot a resentful look at the sleeping fox across from her. Then briefly scanned around their proximity for perhaps a miracle blanket. Of course, she was sorely disappointed.

Judy just sat there contemplating whether or not she should take him up on the offer. _It would be so weird. And inappropriate! And what if he tries something weird?! I know that stupid fox would! But it's so cold UGH!_

She clasped her own shoulders tightly with her paws rubbed desperately trying to stay warm.

 _No! I refuse to be subjected to this temperature induced blackmail! I can tough this through! I've been through more than enough biome training at the academy to-_

 **Whooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooossshhhhhhhhhhhh~~~**

A huge enduring gust of icy air blasted under the bridge.

…

…

Judy found herself already running over to the sleeping fox. The little crevice he left for her in his seat was still there.

She quickly wedged herself in as the used the armrest to partially shield her from the icy winds. Her cottontail wiggled a bit.

Immediately she felt immense amounts of heat radiating from his body. His big red poofy tail just inches from her face. She blushed a little just staring at it. He was incredibly warm for some reason. Well, it's probably also because she was incredibly cold.

She made sure to burrow closely to the armrest leaving just a small gap that separated any bodily contact between her and Nick.

His radiating body heat was good enough for her, it wasn't the best… but it certainly beat freezing to death on her own.

She let out a quiet content sigh as she snuggled closer into the seat. There was a bit of adjusting before she could find a comfortable position.

Her breathing calmed as his heat slowly thawed her seemingly frozen body.

…

…

…

…

She lied reclined in his seat with him.

Her thoughts racing. _This is so bad. This is so bad. What am I doing?_

Thoughts of how inappropriate lying with him came first, then the another cold gust reminded rationalized it quickly for her.

 _Well maybe this isn't too bad. I snuggled with hundreds of other bunny siblings before. This is nothing. This was done millions of years ago… for warmth! For survival! Yeah… that's it…_

She smiled thinking that was the end of the subconscious battle.

…

…

…

 _But he's not a bunny, he's a fox. He could eat me or attack me whenever he wants._ Her eyes shot open as her ears erected.

…

…

…

 _But he won't. He would've done it already if he wanted to…_ She let out another content sigh.

…

…

…

Her ear twitched. _But what if he-_

Suddenly a paw wrapped around her waist. Her eyes shot open and her ears straighter than it ever was before in whole life.

Nick had turned around.

She laid there frozen in place (from shock, not the cold this time).

His paw slightly pulled her into him.

She felt a huge wave of warmth surround her. Despite the discomfort she felt from this foreign and random contact, the coziness did compel a small part of her to enjoy it.

They laid there like that for a few moments. Neither of them made a sound.

Judy could hear his calm and quiet breathing so close to her ears. Each time he exhaled, he provided a warm draft that seemed to thaw what she thought was ice in her ears.

…

…

…

She slowly turned her head to look at him. It looked like he was fast asleep. _He must be one of those toss and turners._ She smiled. _He's kinda cute…_

…

…

Her face went flush again. _No. No! NO! He's not! What the heck, Judy! What's wrong with you!_ She shook her head to push that thought out.

…

…

She tried to slip out of his grip by gingerly prying his paw off, but his grip kept returning.

After about 8 attempts, she finally gave up with a quiet groan as she laid back down. 

…

She fidgeted around a bit.

…

…

…

The warmth was oddly comforting though, but the guilt and her conservativeness was screaming at her.

…

…

…

…

…

About 5 minutes passed.

"Aren't rabbits supposed to be good cuddlers?" his questioning voice came outta nowhere and nearly made her heart jump out of her chest.

"OH! Cheese… I didn't… I didn't know you were… you were awake…" she exclaimed breathlessly. Her heart was pounding.

He looked down at her quarter lidded and smiled tiredly, "Why are you squirming around so much? You're making it hard to cuddle."

Her cheeks burned up. "We're not cuddling! You're the one who decided to… do… whatever you're doing, you creep!"

He smirked at her, "I didn't feel you push me away. Plus… aren't you the one who came to me?"

"It's just really cold, and I'm here to borrow some of your warmth!" She retorted adamantly.

"Yeah cuddling." He restated plainly.

She furrowed her brows, "This isn't cuddling! Don't get any funny ideas, slick! You know I cou-"

He suddenly turned her around and planted a very gentle, but enduring kiss.

…

…

…

It was so sudden. It was nothing like Judy ever experienced before. She felt her heart was going to explode, a whole butterfly exhibit suddenly opened in her stomach. Her limbs felt weak. It was as if a feeling, an urge in the back of her mind where the deepest darkest thoughts resided had be satisfied.

Their snouts held that mouth-to-mouth embrace for a good minute, his head leaned in closer to hers while gently re-applying kiss after kiss never breaking contact with her mouth. She felt his warm breath fill her up gradually. His lips moved so tenderly over hers. She couldn't help but slowly reciprocate. Judy had lost control of her thoughts and actions.

Her eyes were still wide open as her face was burning hot at a constant scarlet. The once blistering cold air now had no effect on her. The heat from this random moment of passion coursed through small body creating an impenetrable shield that protected her from the elements.

Finally, he slowly retracted his snout and stared deeply into her amethyst eyes. She simply stared at him dumbstruck by his green gaze. Judy's mouth was still gaping. She was breathless and speechless. Her mind couldn't comprehend anything right now. Only the tremendous amount of warmth she felt.

Nick simply smiled at her with his half-lidded look before embracing her tightly and reclining deeper into the seat.

Her body laid with his allowing the unfamiliar intimate embrace. She had no idea what the hell was going on.

She doesn't know why she let it happen, but more importantly why she even remotely liked it. What does it mean?

Nick let out a quiet content sigh. He didn't quite know what it meant either, but something drove him to do it.

Before she could even try to figure anything out. The warmth, the fluttery feelings, and the peculiar sense of safety she felt quickly overtook her senses.

With that, she had drifted off to sleep.

 **SSSsssssPICAYYY~~ AMIRIGHT? Reviews pls. I love your dirty sexts.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Slightly longer one incoming 8===========D**

Her vision was blurry as the light passed through a mere slit her eyelids formed.

The sunlight stung her eyes causing her to quickly shut them again and scrunch her face.

…

…

It was no longer cold, in fact… It was rather warm. Judy smiled slightly, remembering what happened last night.

Her ears perked up. _Last night…_ Disbelief with a bit of guilt washed over her. Her eyes were still shut tight. _I just let him… do that… and I kind of liked it… what the heck is wrong with me?_ For a few minutes, she reflected on last night's rather surreal events.

…

…

 _I need to straighten things out with him. Make sure he knows he can't just be doing that kinda stuff whenever he wants to._

Her eyes open as an air of determination filled her heart. Sleeping in the chair made her joints a little sore. She wiggled around and stretched her arm out a bit before slowly sitting up.

She quickly turned back to gaze upon the fox.

Her eyes widened.

…

…

 _He's gone._

The space where the red fuzzy vulpine occupied was now entirely vacant.

She looked around franticly as if she lost her keys. She quickly began to question the reality of that night.

 _Was it all just a dream?_

She looked up once more, she was indeed under that same bridge and on that same chair, but the coolers… the lantern… the other chair… and the fox were missing.

She lightly sniffed around the chair. Still smelled like him and his oddly tantalizing cologne.

….

 _There's no way that was a dream._

She quickly sprung up onto her feet and searched around the proximity—above and around the bridge.

A few minutes of running around led to… nothing.

The area was just as abandoned as it was last night. In fact, to her recollection, that's what made this place such a great hiding spot for him.

She scratched her head in frustration.

 _What was I thinking?! Of course he would leave. He's a criminal… and now he's more than that… he's a fugitive on the run from the law and from other criminals. Ugh. What the hell was I thinking running around with him and kissin-_

She paused as that thought made her cheeks radiate crimson.

Judy shut her eyes and shook her head vigorously to dissipate the memory and imagery.

But a feeling… A foreign feeling lingered in her heart. A feeling that made her oddly fond of what had happened.

Suddenly, she felt a bit of guilt that it was her that put Nick in this position where he needed to now constantly flee. He was fine before… _well as fine as a conmammal could be_ … and ever since he met her, his life had met nothing but trepidations.

... But before her mind could wrap any further around the thought, her phone suddenly began to ring.

The caller ID showed "city hall."

Judy tilted her head as she picked up.

…

"Hello?" The awkward female voice spoke.

"Uh… Hi." Judy greeted back.

"Oh! Thank goodness, I thought I had the wrong number! How are you doing, Officer Hopps?" the sheepish and enthusiastic voice asked.

"I'm doing good… I'm sorry… who am I speaking to?" Judy coyly asked.

"Oh! I'm so sorry, it's me! Hehe. Mayor Bellwether! Come by the office today, I want to show you something very cool!" She squeaked excitedly.

Judy's ears perked up high.

* * *

Nick walked through the icy roads of Tundratown in a thick leather jacket.

He wasn't fazed by the cold, not in the least bit. He had a lot on his mind to keep him warm in addition to the jacket.

He found himself now walking through the park.

There were young mammals ice skating nearby at the frozen pond.

He walked over to an open bench and took a seat. As he let out a long exhale, he could see a large puff of his own breath in front of his face.

He cocked his head back and stretched out his neck a bit to relieve some of the tension that had built up.

 _All right… maybe… maybe you can reconcile yourself here._ His brows were furrowed as he closed his eyes to think.

…

…

 _Maybe… maybe if you just talk it over with him… you would cut you some slack and give you some time..._

…

…

He smirked and scoffed at himself. Being a conmammal his whole life selling lies and false hopes, and he couldn't even fool himself. Koslov would sooner kill his own family than forgive his enemies.

…

…

He idly watched the passerby's and listened to the quiet howling of the icy winds. It was definitely getting colder. He rubbed his paws together.

…

…

Suddenly a small mass of snow struck him in the back of the head.

"Ow." He rubbed where he had been struck and turned around to see a small white rabbit staring at him with shocked eyes. Her two little paws covered her own mouth.

"I'm sorry, mister! I was playing snowball fight but I missed and acci-acc-" She struggled with the pronunciation of the word… "acco…dentally… hit you." she apologized in a shy, guilty, and high pitched tone.

Her eyes were probably just as wide, if not wider, than Judy's. And instead of amethyst, she had bright light blue eyes.

Nick stared at her for a while with an inquisitive look before smiling.

He imagined Judy's siblings to look exactly like her.

As he opened his mouth to say "it's ok" a middle aged female rabbit quickly scooped up the kitten in a swift movement and scolded her for leaving her sight.

Nick's mouth was gaping when the mother looked up to see the fox, she let out a small yelp and then furrowed her brows at him. He leaned back a bit in response.

"You better stay away from my babies, or I'll call the police! We have personal connections to the ZPD, so don't even think about it!" she threatened. She was probably referring to Judy Hopps and hoping Nick would just think they're closely related.

Nick closed his mouth and just shook his head before looking away. The mother and the small rabbit quickly scurried back to the large group of bunnies on the other side of the park.

He let out a quiet sigh.

…

…

…

 _I can't hide forever…_

He lifted and looked back to see the rabbit mom talking to some ZPD officers who were just passing by, she vaguely pointed in his direction.

Nick gulped and quickly got up and walked into a dark alleyway making sure to stay out of sight.

 _I can't run forever either…_

Suddenly his mind just couldn't stop thinking about Judy.

Couldn't stop thinking about those eyes.

Those ears.

And…

That kiss.

He smirked.

 _That bunny did taste quite good._

The events that happened that night momentarily engrossed his mind, he even felt his cheeks flush ever so slightly.

…

…

While he daydreamed in the alley. He suddenly heard a loud smack right behind him as his body fell into the snow.

He let out a weak groan.

 _Carrots…_

Then… Everything went black.

* * *

"I… I don't get it…" Judy placed the ZPD flyer down on the mayor's desk. Judy's face was front and center on the paper.

Bellwether smiled, "We want YOU to be the face of Zootopia!" Bellwether was clearly giddy as she exchanged looks with Bogo who was standing right next to Judy.

Judy just stared at the flyer.

"But… why?" She asked again knowing it had something to do with the missing mammals, she just felt like she had almost nothing to do with solving the case. She recalled Nick was the one who solved it on his own, albeit… he was 'holding her hostage'. This didn't really feel like her accomplishment.

"Well! You just did such a fantastic job on the missing mammals case, and now with the recent frequent savage attacks… Well… Zootopia needs a face… a face they can look up to and trust."

Judy looked down in shame. A lot has changed in Zootopia, and predators seemed to be blamed for everything bad that's been happening while she had been accredited with every little positive thing… which she wasn't even responsible for… at least not directly.

She came to make the world a better place, but all she managed to do was get beaten up and captured… and then kissed by a conmammal before sleeping next to him…under an old bridge… The thought was beyond disgraceful, it was degrading. She felt like a failure as an officer and as a mammal.

"I'm sorry…" Judy quietly apologized. Bogo and Bellwether looked at her in unison concern.

"What's wrong, Judy?"

"I…can't... Thank you… for the offer… But… I'm so sorry. There's just a lot going on right now. And… I feel my actions has only made life worse for so many innocent predators…"

As she spoke, she thought especially of Nick and his current situation. The guilt gripped her heart tightly. She cringed a little.

"And… at the moment… I just… I don't feel ready… To take on a figure and role like that…" She looked around the room as if finding words before looking over at Bogo.

"Uhm… Chief Bogo?"

The buffalo looked at her with uncharacteristically sincere eyes, "Yes, Hopps?"

She began a little nervously, "I'm… I'm going to need to take a leave of absence… this whole situation-"

Bogo furrowed his brows and very quietly reprimanded, "I've already given you plenty R and R Hopps, are you expecting special treatmen-?"

Bellwether quickly cut him off by chuckling awkwardly and loudly, "I think… what Chief Bogo… here is trying to say is… Judy… ahem. This is a really sensitive time right now… and what you did for the city was tremendous... and we cannot thank you enough. Really! We can't… but now… now is the time we need heroes like you the most! Most of our city is prey and frankly… they're just all really scared right now… they need you, Judy… WE need you…" Bellwether spoke in almost a plea.

Though the praise was flattering and compelling… Judy couldn't shake the awful feeling she felt.

"I'm not a hero… And I understand that I don't deserve special treatment either… so…" She slowly and reluctantly pulled her badge off of her chest. She never expected it to hurt her so. This was her dream since she was a mere kit.

Both Bogo and Bellwether's eyes widened.

"Judy… this was your dream… You've wanted this since you were a little kid…" Bellwether reminded.

Judy looked at them both ruefully. "I'm so sorry… thank you for the opportunity…" Without another word, she walked out of the room.

She doesn't know why she did that.

As she slowly and painfully made her way through the corridor and to the elevators, her mind was blank. She never felt so useless, confused, and… shattered. She practically threw her own lifelong dream into the garbage can.

Judy let out defeated sigh as she entered the elevator and descended down.

She entered the building as a ZPD officer, and exited as a regular bunny once more…

Judy was at a loss… _What am I going to do?_ For some reason, all she could think about was Nick. _What is he going to do?_

Her brain finally gave up trying to decipher and figure everything out, and decided to do what she has desperately wanted to do for a long time.

She slowly made her way back home with a heavy heart and drooping ears.

And along the way, she observed nothing but prejudicial hate throughout the once great and unified city. She held her head down low.

* * *

Cold water suddenly drenched his face.

Nick sputtered a bit as he groggily opened his eyes letting out a weak and disoriented groan. _Where… the hell… am I?_

His head was fuzzy and he felt drained.

Suddenly he felt a hard punch into his abdomen. "OOF!" He felt the wind quickly knocked out of him. That woke him up pretty quick.

"Wakey wakey, sunshine!" A familiar gruff scumbag voice beckoned.

He tried to move his limbs but found them bound to the oddly comfortable leather seat.

Nick shook his head and opened his eyes, his vision began to adjust to the light. Slowly, the blurry and silhouetted figure became more clear.

A scarred ugly jaguar stood before him. "…David… What the hell do you think you're doing?" Nick weakly asked in an angry tone.

David leaned in, Nick noticed he had a jaw brace and bandages all over his face. He couldn't tell if the jaguar was smiling or scowling. Either way, it was unsettling.

"Well… if you must know. I'm going to gut you alive, Wilde." He suddenly held out a large knife in front of Nick's face. Nick was unfazed. He wore a calm and unamused look. The jaguar grinned baring as much of his teeth as he could.

"So…" The jaguar walked around behind Nick and grazed the knife over his ear. "Where shall we begin? That tail of yours? Or maybe your manhood?" He spoke in almost a slither as he draped the knife over Nick's shoulder.

 _Filthy scum_

As David's face neared the back of Nick's head, Nick quickly jerked his head back smashing the jaguar dead in the snout. He let out a girlish scream and dropped the knife as he clasped his face. Nick could hear him whimpering and muttering on the floor behind him.

Suddenly, a deep Russian laugh could be heard in the distance.

Nick's ears perked up. He couldn't make out the figure due to the dim lights and the thick fog that filled the room.

Soon a menacing chuckle followed.

…

…

"Well…" the same deep voice spoke. "It seems you're as ruthless as ever, Nicky." A large polar bear stepped out from the shadows.

Nick's eyes widened. His heart stopped for just a second. _Koslov…_

The polar bear was smiling at him with his signature turtle neck and a clean pressed suit, on his neck was his family heirloom gold necklace.

Nick averted his gaze to the floor.

Koslov frowned. "I'm hurt, Nicky… We haven't seen each other for so long and you don't even greet me?"

Nick remained silent.

Koslov sighed in feigned sadness. "Nicky… I've missed you so… And I heard… You've been busy. Have you not?" He raised an eyebrow at Nick.

Still the fox said nothing.

Koslov shrugged nonchalantly as he made his way over to the minibar. "Whisker's Whiskey?" He offered.

Nick shook his head very slowly.

Koslov smirked as he poured himself a glass. Nick could hear the clink clanking of the ice cubes being dropped into the glass. _On the rocks as always._

As he picked up his drink, he made a couple of snaps with his paw gesturing at the floor in front of him. Quickly, a couple of his polar bear henchmammals brought him a large leather seat and placed it in front of Nick.

Koslov nodded at them before sitting down and letting out a content sigh, paw swirling the drink around.

"So." He took a sip and set the drink down on a small table. "… What are we going to do about you, hmm?" Koslov smiled at him with half lidded eyes.

Nick only briefly looked up at him before looking away.

…

…

…

"I must admit Nicky… I thought I had you all figured out… But you always seem to surprise me. I suppose that's why I liked you so." Koslov's face was now serious as if trying to talk to his own son.

"But I mean… A rabbit?" He asked.

Something boiled inside of Nick. Something made him want to shout out _YOU LEAVE HER OUT OF THIS!_ But he kept his cool by shutting his eyes and taking one deep breath.

"I have all the loveliest vixens in the world here, Nicolas. And they'd all be more than willing to love you forever! And probably do a whole lot more for you if you know what I mean... But… A rabbit?" Koslov asked again looking amused.

Nick stared at the floor silently.

Koslov continued.

"But above all that…" He cleared his throat. "You loving a loose end rabbit officer… you beating Dave to hell…" his paw gestured toward the pathetic agonizing jaguar on the floor "…and you not paying me on time… Those… All of that combined is nothing compared to how you've disappointed me… by betraying ALL of us." Koslov spoked in melodramatic tone.

Nick presumed he was referring to his general betrayal of the organization.

Finally, Nick spoke, "Look. She has nothing to do with this, and just give me more time with the money… I can easily come up with the cash, I just need a week tops. And as for David…" Nick turned his head. "He deserved it. I'd do it again."

Koslov looked at him for a while deadpan.

…

…

…

Suddenly he bursted out into a bellowing laughter. Nick winced a little.

"AHAHHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAH~" His laugh was deep and uproaring as he slapped his thigh.

Nick just watched him for a whole 2 minutes laughing. For some reason, this made Nick a bit nervous. _What the hell was so funny?_

Finally, as his laughter subsided he wiped the tear from his eye and took another sip of his whiskey.

He then looked over at one of his henchbears and snapped.

Suddenly a large fist came flying and struck square in Nick's eye. "AHH!" he shouted in pain. The pain shot through his left eye as he could feel it begin to swell and a little bit of blood pooled inside.

He couldn't open it anymore as a mixture of tears and blood came streaming out. That polar bear took a well-placed shot inflicting the most damage in just one hit.

Nick was both impressed and disoriented.

Koslov was not so amused anymore as his tone flattened, "You truly… have changed Nicolas. I always knew you were shifty and cunning…I mean… it's what you were good at… but I would have never expected you to have no self-respect especially to your own kind."

Nick looked at him confused and still in a bit of agony. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Koslov let out a low growl of frustration, "I grow weary of this game. Do you think I am stupid? Do you really believe you're in a good position to mock me right now?"

Nick looked up at him in the eye and asked again, "What. The. Fuck. Are. You. Talking. About?!"

Koslov met his gaze with equal intensity. They held this staredown for bit before Koslov retracted as he let out a huff.

"You think you're clever, do you? We'll see how clever you are when I make you watch us tear your little girlfriend limb from limb in front of you." He threatened very seriously.

Nick's good eye widened, he has seen Koslov do that to a poor vixen that he caught stealing money for a rival gang.

Nick bared his teeth before ordering in a growl, "You leave her out of this, Koslov."

Koslov shook his head in bewilderment. "What the hell's the matter with you Nick? Why are you doing this? You think this is worth it for a stupid rabbit?"

Nick shouted out this time, "I don't know what the fuck you are talking abou-!"

Suddenly Koslov pressed his forehead into Nick's and shouted back, "YOU THINK THIS IS FOR THE GOOD OF ZOOTOPIA? THROWING ALL OF US PREDATORS UNDER THE BUS? HAVE YOU NO SHAME, YOU FILTHY FOX?! YOU'RE HELPING THAT RABBIT AND HER PREY POLITICIANS TAKE OVER ZOOTOPIA, PUTTING ALL OF US INTO A QUARANTINE LIKE WE'RE SOME DISEASED ANIMALS."

Nick was taken aback. This was not what he was expecting.

"You think you and your little bunny can go around framing all predators for the savage attacks? No. This will not do! Morris (his son) will not grow up in world where he has to live in fear simply for being a predator. And I'll make sure of it. I am more powerful than you can even imagine, fox. You may be a filthy traitor to our kind, but I am not."

Koslov finally took a deep breath, adjusted his suit, and regained his composure.

….

…

He looked at Nick once more before shaking his head. "It's a pity. I really did like you Nicky. But… You are a disturbed and malicious soul. So I must now send you back to hell where you belong." He snapped his paws at his henchbears.

"Take care of this thing."

Nick could see his henchbears slowly advance at him with a hammer and a baseball bat.

He tried to wiggle out of his bindings, but to no avail.

 _What a goddamn mess…_

 **A/N *Descends from the skies wearing a jetpack.***

 **Greetings, my** **mentally challenged seamonkeys! It's me again, Dude McMan! Hope yall enjoying the plot development so far! I really love the erotic comments yall leave. Really inspires (stimulates) my brain (genitals) to continue writing for you, your children, and your grandchildren. I hope to touch every single one of them soo- I hope to inspire them all very soon!**

 **With a bucket full of love (whale sperm),**

 **ShamefulDood**

 **P.S. I make lavender soap now, so if you want to buy any just PM me. It might not be lavender… or soap though… but PM me anyway if you want to talk to me about your college education.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Wow sorry about the wait. I've been trying to summon our lord and savior Cthulu. It didn't work now my whole house smells like rotten seafood and chicken blood. Anyways, enjoy!**

She laid on her bed silently with her eyes shut tight.

…

…

…

Her heart was aching from the decision she just made. She had just thrown her dream career away… _and for what?_

She tossed and turned a bit.

The guilt of being responsible for the city's newly found prey-predator conflict and the pain of her occupational loss was seething in her heart.

….

….

And then there's Nick.

A feeling just bouncing around in the deeper darker parts of her mind. She had shared a moment of odd intimacy with that criminal and some part of her received it very well… Rejoiced at it almost. Then she remembered he's gone… he just got up and left… She sighed. _To no surprise I guess._

Judy's nose twitched slowly realizing she's probably never going to see him again. And that one day she might hear of them digging up his body somewhere in a ditch after Koslov had killed him. Her heart oddly ached deeply just thinking about it.

She quickly shook her head to dissipate the thought. Though that concern and confusion of the overall situation still slowly chipped away at her emotional stability.

She accidently let a tear escape. Her paw quickly wiped it away as she curled up tightly with her pillow. This wasn't like her. It wasn't like her to quit and give up… It wasn't like her to just wallow in self-pity… and it **definitely** wasn't like her to be concerned and… _missing that dumb fox?_

She thought she needed time off to rest, but this break is proving to be more stressful than it was helpful.

Judy continued to toss and turn.

"Ugh." She grunted out before sitting up. She rubbed her head a bit.

She looked up at the mirror across the room and noticed that same damn bandage on her face.

Again, she reached up to rub it. Slowly she began to peel it off wincing every time it pulled out some fur.

Finally, she ripped off the last centimeter and appraised her facial wound. It seemed to have healed up quite nicely. The rest of her lacerations on her chest were also healing up nicely thanks to Nick's medical handiwork.

Her paw reflexively began to throw the bandage away in the trash can, but Judy quickly stopped herself.

This bandaid was the last physical reminder of Nick she had. Well, that and a few of his belongings he left under the bridge. But this cute little fox bandage was something that was given to her, almost **for** her.

Again, her heart welled up with conflicting feelings. _Why am I even dwelling on this? I should just go back to Bunny Burro-_

She stopped herself.

…

…

…

…

A foreboding thought suddenly clicked in her mind. Something felt gravely amiss.

…

…

 _Why would he leave? Where could he go?_

She lied back down on the bed slowly rubbing her temples to think it through.

 _He ditched his home, his job, his crew… me… where else could h-WOULD he turn to…_

…

…

 _Where…_

…

…

…

…

…

Judy's eyes widened.

 _No._

…

…

 _He wouldn't._

…

…

She quickly shot up out of her bed, got dressed in warm clothes, packed her fox repellant and darted out of her apartment.

It's both funny and inconvenient to Judy that even now as a civilian, her investigations have nearly non-existent leads.

She walked around Tundratown not exactly sure what she was looking for.

Judy felt she was here simply because of a rather baseless hunch. But a strong hunch nonetheless.

She walked around the freezing region looking in alleyways and under any bridges. For 2 hours, she found nothing.

She began to curse herself for being so paranoid over nothing. _Maybe Nick wouldn't do that, he probably just ran off to some other city… yeah… that must be it._

She realized she had just walked up to the entrance of a rather large park.

 _There are a lot of bunnies out here today. Must be a family outing._

Judy smiled as she saw the beautiful white coat of the adorable kits playing in the snow: building snowmammals, lugging snowballs at each other, and making snowangels.

She let out a cold exhale before entering the park.

Judy found an empty bench and sat down, her eyes scanning the scenery of this region.

As she admired the architecture and natural beauty of the freezing cold biome, she found it more and more serene and relaxing. Though she was extremely vigilant at first, she let her mind ease little by little. She tried hard to convince herself Nick was probably fine and that she was just overthinking things.

…

…

…

…

Suddenly, a concerned voice invaded and disrupted her brief moment of serenity. "Excuse me…"

Judy's eyes opened and turned to face the voice. She was a middle aged rabbit, probably just a few years younger than her own parents.

Judy smiled, "Oh, hi! Can I help you?"

The white rabbit smiled at her and continued, "Well. I don't need the help. I'm actually here to help-well… warn you."

Judy raised an inquisitive eyebrow.

The white rabbit looked around before leaning a little closer to Judy, "This is just a little warning for us bunnies, there was a shifty individual nearby this park." Her paw gestured toward the direction.

"He was sitting at that bench over there looking all suspicious. I don't know where he went now, but I informed a couple of cops and they said they'd be on the lookout for him. So just looking out for another bunny! We little guys gotta stick together, ya know." She finished with a chuckle and arms crossed.

Judy awkwardly chuckled too as she tilted her head slightly, "Sorry ma'am… If you don't mind me asking… what did this 'shifty individual' look like or do?"

"Oh! He had some nerves trying to smooth talk and lure my kits to go off with him. Those foxes are all the sam-"

"Fox?" Judy's eyes widened.

The white rabbit stared at her awkwardly, "Yeah a shady red fox… Anyways, I quickly pulled my children back and gave that pervert a piece of my mind."

Judy quickly asked with furrowed brows, "What did he say?"

The mom scoffed before raising her paw, "Nothing. I mean what could he say? I just told him I knew the rabbit officer in the ZPD and was instantly scared. Probably cowered away." She stated smugly.

Judy opened her mouth to comment on that but quickly held her tongue. She decided against revealing her identity to her, since things were… complicated to say the least at this point.

The middle aged rabbit's nose twitched as her own eyes widened a bit, "Say… you look a lot lik-"

…

"Ok! Thank you for the warning ma'am. I'll be sure to look out!" Judy nodded and quickly walked off toward the general direction she pointed at.

Judy walked up to the bench where the fox had been sitting. She stood there examining the surface of the icy bench. _Was Nick really here?_

…

…

Her nose twitched. She furrowed her brows in frustration as her foot thumped rapidly on the floor. _That dumb fox! Why would he go back to him? Why would he try to confron-_

There was something peculiar in the snow that covered the floor beneath the bench.

 _Footprints._

Judy's eyes widened as she crouched down and examined them. _Looks like fox footprints alright._ Tundratown's snow made it really easy to track mammals especially if the tracks were made recently…

Judy's ears perked up high. _He can't be too far then. Maybe there's still time._

Excitement rushed through her heart as she followed the trail tightly.

As she followed the trail, she was occasionally met with intersecting paw prints distracting her from the fox prints. But every time she felt off-track, she quickly backtracked and relocated the correct prints.

Finally after a good 25 minutes of tirelessly analyzing the ground, she followed the trail to a rather dark alleyway. In here, there was only the fox's footprints. _Not a lot of mammals come here I bet… So_ _these must be Nick's._

Again, this was all speculation… most foxes were red and their paw prints were very similar in size and shape. For all she knew, she could have been following the prints of a Furdex delivery fox.

Since the alleyway was darker, she followed the trail slowly and cautiously. Ever since Finnick and Nick jumped her in the alleyway, she felt a bit of impending danger every time she walked near one. And this alleyway was especially creepy.

…

…

…

…

Judy let out a small gasp as her eyes widened. She saw it. Very small splotches of blood, and further down the trail… the footprints turned into flattened snow as if something _or someone_ had been dragged off.

Her nose twitched as her police instinct kicked in. She took a combat stance as she deployed her fox repellant. Slowly, and even more carefully, she followed the dragging path.

…

…

The loud howl of the wind blew through the alleyway. The breeze sent a deep shiver down her spine. But she wasn't fazed and kept moving forward.

She followed the trail through a maze of dark backroads and alleyways.

Shadier characters seem to inhabit these parts. Illegal businesses selling weapons and banned foods ran rampant. She could see pickpocketing happen widespread out in the open.

Her paw clenched her pockets tightly.

She even passed a few trenchcoat dealers distributing what she presumed to be drugs to some delinquents.

A couple of rams bumped past her carrying a box of… _Midnicampum holicithias?_ Judy paused to do a double take on them as her nose twitched a little. She quickly resumed walking so as not to attract too much attention. Her brows furrowed. _That's odd…_ She shook her head to regain focus and forged onward.

Judy tried to avoid eye contact though many of them eyed her with some wariness.

Her heart raced a bit.

She quickened her pace until she found the tracks ending at a dingy metal door lit only by a small flickering, yellow light.

Judy stared at it for a while. This area was particularly quiet compared to the rest of the place.

Judy held her fox repellant tightly as she slowly approached the door.

Her paw carefully reached out to the handle…

….

….

….

Suddenly she heard loud stamping from within. She quickly ran and hid behind a nearby metal trashcan.

…

…

 **CLANG**

The door was tackled open by a black jaguar cursing and yelling clasping his face. He let out a frustrated roar into the sky.

Judy peered out and squinted to get a better look at him. Suddenly her fur stood up high. _It's him again._

Her heart began to boil in anger remembering what he tried to do to her. Her paw curled into a fist.

The jaguar began to calm down before he angrily pulled out a cigarette. As he tried to light it, she overheard him muttering about "Fucking trash piece of shit fox…"

Her heart rejoiced. All her hunches were correct. This must be where Nick was.

The jaguar was still way too close to the door for her to just sneak past him however.

He began to pace around the snow, gently rubbing his head and face.

Judy thought carefully of her next move.

…

…

Then it hit her… She knew what she had to do… She gave a slight smirk. Now that she's all healed up… it was time for payback.

…

…

David puffed away at his cigarette still mumbling angrily to himself. Suddenly, something swept his legs out making him fall on his ass extinguishing his cigarette in the snow.

"Oof!" David rubbed his back as he lightly shook his head. He looked up and yelled out, "Who the fuck has the balls to do that? Come out! Do you KNOW who the hell I am!"

…

"Yeah." Judy stepped out from the shadows.

David looked at her with a shocked expression, "You…" Suddenly, he smiled and chuckled, "Come back to play with daddy again, little bunny? I didn't get to finish last time."

Judy lifted her chin a little and stepped toward him. "You got lucky last time, you ugly freak." Her words seemed to piss him off. He growled a little at the comment.

…

His smile dropped. "Oh honey… you really shouldn't…" He reached into his pocket and deployed a rather large switchblade.

Judy readied herself, gripping the fox repellant tightly.

He roared at he lunged out wildly, hacking and slashing at her.

Thanks to the rest and recovery, she easily evaded the attacks and took no time to play around. As she ducked under one of his swipes, she aimed up and hit him with copious amounts of repellant to the eyes.

He recoiled back and yelled out, "AHHHH! WHAT THE FUCK! HOW MANY OF THOSE DO YOU HAVE?!"

As a response, Judy jumped to one the walls and rebounded off of it as hard as she could, flying into and smashing the jaguar's face with her two powerful feet.

"AGhhhhhhhhhhh…..~" He stumbled around in a small circle before pathetically falling into the snow.

He was out cold. **(lol get it? Cuz lik… tundratow- ahem ok… I'll kill myself.)**

Judy slowly walked over and disarmed him. She kept the knife on her just in case.

She stepped back and observed her handiwork. She made a quiet triumphant sigh as she entered the building.

The walls were rather fancy decorated with amazing colors and expensive looking paintings. The corridor was very tall, wide, and very well-lit compared to the outside. _This definitely seems like a place a rich polar bear crime boss would hide out in._

She approached a wooden door that was left a little open.

Sounds of cracking and hits could be heard.

She peered in quietly only to be met by a horrible sight…

Nick was strapped to a chair, face bloodied up and clothes covered in his own blood. One of his eyes were swollen completely shut. Two polar bears were still beating at him with hammers and bats.

Her blood boiled. Without even thinking, she rushed out to saved him.

She felt her speed almost double as she sprinted across the room.

Before the two polar bears could even respond, they had both been hit by tremendous amounts of fox repellant in each eye.

They screamed in pain as they dropped their weapons and fumbled around blindly.

She was torn for a second whether to take care of the henchbears first or untie Nick.

Without another moment of hesitation, she sprinted to Nick and quickly used the knife to cut his bindings. Nick didn't move, he just let out a weak gurgly cough.

Judy beckoned him urgently, "Nick! It's me, Judy!"

She felt the chair shake a little, "C-c-*Coughs* carrots?" As he spoke, a stream of blood fell out of his mouth.

Her heart started to hurt a lot as tears streamed down her face, for some reason she couldn't see him like this, it was all too much.

The henchbears began to wipe their eyes as they regained limited clarity.

"Nick! We gotta go!" She yelled at him in urgency while pushing him straight out of his seat. He simply fell to the floor. More blood spilled out of his mouth as he coughed some more.

"Nick! Come on… Nick!"

Nick showed a weak smirk and in a strained voice spoke quietly, "Judy…" She winced from the pain of his tone. "You stupid rabbit… get… get outta here…" His eyes drifted and his body fell limp.

Her body shook as she gripped him tightly, "No! You're gonna make it, it's going to be o-" Suddenly she sensed one of the henchbears charging at her.

She quickly jumped out of the way letting him crash into the wall, he laid in the newly formed hole in the wall unconscious. The other polar bear meandered around the floor looking for a weapon.

Judy grabbed Nick's paws and began to drag him across the floor hoping to escape. He was a lot heavier than she imagined.

"Let's go, Nick!" She grunted effortfully out as she used all her strength to drag him.

Nick was completely motionless and the dragging left a frighteningly large trail of blood.

Judy's head felt light at the sight when suddenly…

 **~sook!**

"Ah!" She yelled then lifted her left arm, a large dart was embedded in her forearm. She let out a frustrated groan as she pulled it out and continued dragging Nick. Her body started to feel numb…

…

…

Then more.

 **~sook! ~sook! ~sook!**

She arched her back in pain then her consciousness started to slip, she fell to the floor next to Nick in a small thud.

As her vision blurred, she could see the dead or unconscious fox laying lifelessly next to her. She really couldn't tell…

She reached out with one paw. "Nick…"

 _Nick…_

She woke in a shock as her head was submerged into a tank of cold water. They pulled her up and let her cough and retch for about 5 seconds before holding her in the water again for 30 seconds.

The more she struggled, the more she choked. They repeated this about 10 times before she found herself thrown into an industrial size refrigerator the size of a small warehouse…

She spent about 10 minutes coughing up and choking on all the water in her lungs.

After she cleared her lungs she felt extremely cold. She shivered... and shook her head. Then she noticed…

There, only 10 feet away from her near the wall was a red fox curled up… entirely naked. Her face took on a thousand shades of red as her two little paws covered her mouth. Suddenly she stopped and realized something.

…

…

She was naked too. _OH CHEESE AND CRACKERS!_

Judy let out a loud yelp before quickly clamping her legs shut and her paws over her chest. The cold water dripped from her toned and curvy body. Her fur was shiny from the wetness. But her heart was racing from the cold and embarrassment. She scrambled to look around for clothing, but nothing… only foods packed in cold cardboard boxes.

…

…

…

…

She wanted to scream, but held it in. She quickly physically appraised herself for anymore injuries or… unconsented penetrations. To her relief, she could not find evidence of either on her body.

Now she was back to the elephant in the room. She looked over at Nick's bare back once more. He laid there motionless.

…

…

Still making sure to cover herself with her paws, she slowly walked over to Nick to check up on him.

As she approached him, he suddenly turned over.

Her face turned full flush as she quickly darted behind a small stack of boxes.

She hid and clutched onto her body tightly in fear and self-consciousness. But she really wanted to know if he was alright.

"Uhhhnnnn…." He let out a drawn out and weak groan. "C-carrots? …"

"Yeah it's me… Are you ok, Nick?" Her voice broke a little from the nervousness.

He coughed. She winced from how laborious it sounded.

"Where are you…?" He asked. He let out a weak wheeze.

"Just… Just… over here…" She nervously replied. "I… are… are you ok?" She asked again.

Nick laughed pretty loudly, but the laughter was quickly replaced with violent coughing and retching.

Judy scrunched her face as she curled up tightly against the stack of boxes.

Nick let out a small chuckle again, "Well, whiskers… I'm pretty fucking far from ok…" He chuckled again. "Come here… If you don't… we're both gonna freeze to death." He was breathing hard.

…

…

"Is that what he plans to do to us? Freeze us to death?" She asked quietly.

Nick smirked. He tried to sit up, but his body wasn't having it. After a minute of trying, he gave up and just laid there, "Nah… If Koslov wanted to kill us, we'd be in the freezer not the fridge… he keeps 'useful' victims in his fridge to give him time to figure out what to do with them."

"Oh… well… I guess… that's… a relief…?" Judy was half relieved and half distressed. At least they had some time to…

 _To…_

 _To what?_

…. _What do we have time for? Wait for him to come in here and end us?_ She started to a feel a bit of despair.

"Still…" Nick continued. "If we don't keep each other warm, we are definitely going to freeze to death…"

Judy felt her whole body burn up. Cuddling with him kinda-sorta on a chair under a bridge was one thing… but cuddling with this con _naked?!_ Is a whole 'nother thing on its own.

…

…

…

A long painful silence.

…

…

…

…

"Nick?" she squeaked.

"Yeah?"

"We're naked." She stated.

"I know." He replied flatly.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

The deep humming of the refrigeration unit could be heard.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Carrots?" He called out.

"Yeah?"

"Do you trust me?" He asked.

Her mouth felt dry. Oddly enough she did… Through this whole fiasco, he's helped her a lot and was strangely dependable. Like a partner she never had or knew she wanted. He was clever, smart, kinda cute- _SHUT UP SHUT UP!_ OK! OK! Sorry Judy. Jeez.

Point is… the long and veiny of it was: she did… she did trust a con-mammal… she did trust Nicolas Wilde.

"I…" She started.

…

…

…

…

…

Another painful silence.

…

…

"Yeah… yeah I do." It came out in almost a whisper.

"Ok… you were stupid enough to think you can come barging into Koslov's palace and swoop me out like you're my prince charming… So NOW I hope you're smart enough to understand we will freeze to death if you don't get your dumb bunny tail over here."

"That's not helping!" She growled.

"I don't care if it's helping or not, goddamnit! I don't even know why you're here!" He yelled suddenly. His frustration was quickly reduced down to violent coughs.

Judy was quiet. She didn't know why she was here either. She just really didn't want him to…

…

…

…

"I just… couldn't let you… just give up like that…" She answered in a defeated tone.

She slid down, now sitting against the stack of boxes. Her head was in her paws.

"I don't recall asking for advice or help." He replied in an annoyed tone.

Suddenly, Judy stepped out from behind the boxes with furious anger and lashed out at Nick, "WELL YOU KNOW WHAT I DIDN'T ASK YOU TO BEAT ME UP, SAVE ME, CUDDLE WITH ME, KISS ME, AND THEN RUN AWAY EITHER OK?! YOU THINK I WANTED THIS, YOU… YOU… STUPID … JERK!" Her nose was twitching like crazy and her foot thumping at the speed of light.

"I left bunny burrow to finally prove to everyone that I can be whatever I set my mind to. But now… I lost my job, I'm confused all the time, and I'm gonna DIE IN A REFRIDGERATOR TRYING TO SAVE A STUPID DUMB FOX. I don't even… I don't… I…" She stopped suddenly and just stood there quietly breathing really hard from all the yelling.

Nick was just staring at the angry naked rabbit. And though her body was gorgeous, Nick could not focus on anything but her face. A fire in those beautiful amethyst eyes that seemed to make this industrial refrigerator feel like an outdoors walk during the peak of summer.

…

…

…

Tears started to extinguish those flames though…

…

…

Her body trembled and she pursed her mouth shut as she started to sob.

This whole situation had been a lot more than she had bargained for, she doesn't even know what she's doing half the time lately.

Nick forced himself to stand up and slowly wobbled over to her.

He reached out with both paws and pulled her in.

A fur to fur embrace. Nick made sure to distance his hips a little from hers so as not to induce anymore discomfort than it had to.

…

…

Though they were both entirely nude, neither of them seemed to mind. Even Judy. It's like she suddenly didn't have a care in the world. Judy's eyes dried as she leaned in closer to him embracing him back tightly. His warmth seemed to surround her like a blanket. Hers did the same for him.

For some reason, all she could think about now was how she felt under the bridge that night.

So warm. So safe... Like nothing she's felt before.

Nick rested his chin atop her head.

…

…

…

…

…

"I'm sorry, Hopps. We'll think of something… we'll get out of this, I promise."

Judy just let out a few sniffles before nodding her head.

…

…

 _I trust you._

…

…

 **WHEW. BOIIi~ That was a fun one to write. Sorry about the wait… Trying to adult is hard… But aside from that, I hope y'all still there and enjoying the read! Don't forget to pick up a raffle ticket for a chance to win a free brand new Korean Unicorn! It doesn't fly, it just drives a fucking Hyundai, what a dick.**

 **Anyways, see yall next time! Bring popcorn and buttered peanuts!**

 **ALSO. PLEASE answer this in the reviews: PEPSI OR COCA COLA?**

 **Your answer to this question will wholly determine how I treat you from now on. Thanks!**


	9. Chapter 9

WZ 9

"So…" She began. Her eyes wandering around. The air in the refrigerator was as stiff and cold as the boxes of dead fish beside them.

He slowly turned his head to face her before letting out a wheeze in response.

She gulped before quickly averting her gaze as if to dismiss her own attempt at conversation.

…

…

…

…

He coughed and asked again, barely audibly, with a slightly annoyed tone, "Yeah…?"

Her ears perked up. Before nervously looking up at him again, "Oh sorry… I was… I was just wondering... if you..."

…

…

He was giving her an unamused quarter lidded stare. His exhale let out a frosty puff of breath.

"Uhh… Could you… could you wrap your tail a little~" She reached her paws out toward his tail.

Judy finagled and adjusted Nick's poofy red tail so that she was coiled in between its fluff.

She worked busily as she positioned his tail a million different ways to find optimal comfort.

Nick's eyes still quarter lidded as he watched his hind side manipulated by a resolute naked rabbit.

 _Albeit a rather adorable one._

His eyes widened for a second at this random and intrusive thought. He tried to distract himself by interrupting her little feng shui session with his tail, "Hey." He managed let out with a rasp.

She stopped abruptly and looked up at him.

He stared her down with a half-lidded look. She grinned embarrassedly before explaining herself, "Hehe… sorry. I just… it's… I just wanted to adjust it so it'd be a little more ***clears throat*** comfortable for you and me… It's a little cold ya know! And you have to admit, your tail is pretty warm. I mean I wish I had a tail like this ***nervous chuckle*** it would do me wonders during the winte-"

She glanced up at him only to be met with an unmoving and judging stare from the fox. She scratched her ear nervously as her nose twitched a bit.

…

…

"You are probably the most awkward rabbit I've ever met, Carrots." He flashed a quick grin before returning to his stone cold look.

Her cheeks flushed a little, before turning away. Her ears depressed also just a little as her tone was suddenly sincere and apologetic "I'm sorry."

Nick's eyes widened a bit as he turned away too.

…

…

…

"It's… it's not really a bad thing, I suppose." He added quietly.

…

…

She slowly turned to look up at him inquisitively.

…

…

He looked at her briefly and quickly averted his gaze, almost as if he was nervous.

…

"I… Yeah. I think it's alright. Makes you kinda interesting." He shrugged trying to play it cool.

…

…

Judy smiled and blushed a bit. She didn't know why, but that seemed like the most meaningful compliment she had ever received. Probably because it came from the big-bad-kindness-deprived fox.

…

…

…

He raised a paw to scratch his head and cleared his throat, "Well… if you're cold. I can probably go grab some more cardboard over ther-" Suddenly, he let out a series of loud retching coughs, small amounts of blood accompanied them.

Judy quickly rubbed and patted his back trying to help quell the sudden violent outburst.

She spoke softly while continuing to pat his back, "Nick... Are you… Well I know you're not ok… but…" she struggled to find the right words, she just really wanted to help but didn't know how.

He wiped his mouth before sniffing loudly and responding in a rasp, "I'm fine… I'm fine…"

"Don't worry. I'll go get the cardboard. You stay right here!" she reassured him with an air of confidence.

She took some of the cardboard that they previously gathered near to them and wrapped it around herself before standing up and awkwardly waddling toward another box just a few meters in front of them.

The icy breeze of the refrigerator quickly permeated through her insulation and Judy began to feel an aggressive coldness piercing into her skin. She began to shiver.

She tried to jog over to swipe the cardboard, but a small thin puddle of icy water caught her off guard.

"Ah!" She yelped.

She slipped and did half a backflip before landing on her back in a loud thud.

Nick cringed at the sight as he tried not to laugh.

Her cardboard guard was thrown away during the flip. Judy laid naked on the icy wet floor with pain and dizziness from the fall. She writhed around a little in agony. "Uhhnnn…"

…

…

…

Then she stopped moving.

…

…

Nick's eyes widened as his ears sprang up.

He tried calling out to her, but he paid dearly for that attempt as waves of violent coughs spilled out of him. Even standing up was still damn well near impossible.

Seeing no other alternatives, he placed what cardboard he had left on the floor and crawled on his belly toward Judy.

As he slowly clawed his way toward her, he finally let out a raspy whisper-yell, "Carrottss~ Are you ok?!"

Judy writhed some more as she let out a weak moan.

Nick grit his teeth as he continued to crawl forward.

…

Finally, he pulled himself up beside her. He quickly hoisted her small freezing body up onto the cardboard he laid on the floor. His other paw reached out to pull another piece of cardboard over themselves creating a fox-bunny smores between the cardboard.

He embraced her tightly in a prone position physically appraising her for any noticeable injuries.

 _Probably a minor concussion._

"Carrots?" He beckoned as he shook her a little.

…

…

…

"Carrots?" Her nose twitched a little in response.

"Hey Carrots…" He rubbed her cheeks with his paws.

"Hnnn?" she let out a weak groan in response.

"Hey… Hey wake up. Wake up. You can't go to sleep, you probably have a concussion, you dumb rabbit."

"…Wha… Ohh… My head… Nick…" She slurred.

 _Ok well at least she remembers my name._

"You slipped and fell while yo-" he had to stifle his laughter to a quiet snicker from how funny it was now that he's had some time to think about how she slipped and fell.

"Heh. You slipped and fell while trying to retrieve the cardboard." He finally was able to tell her with a somewhat straight face.

Judy stared at him still confused. "I-I did? Wow. I don't… I don't even remember. That's embarrassing."

"It's ok. It was hilarious." He smirked.

She glared at him.

…

"Wait. Why are we lying down now?" She suddenly asked. Her eyes looked down to see them both embraced chest to chest.

Even his nether foxy member was dangerously close to her thigh.

Her eyes widened as she quickly pushed up away which actually shot her out from between the two boards and landed her on the icy floor.

She shot up again from the sudden coldness and propelled herself back into the cardboard smores colliding into the naked fox.

He raised his brows at her, "back so soon?" he gave her a slight smirk.

Judy's face flushed as she realized that collision resulted in an even tighter intimate contact with Nick under the covers, and this time… his malehood was actually pressed up against her thigh. Both of them quickly retracted their hips to avoid any more unnecessary draping.

Judy, though somewhat warmer now, began to shake from the nerves and awkwardness.

"Carrots." He suddenly spoke up still in rasp, but with more enthusiasm. He pulled her in closer to a small embrace.

Her shaking stopped. She looked into his eyes and him into hers. Despite the hurt and fatigue the rest of his body showed, the strength in his eyes never faltered.

Their faces just a few inches apart. The proximity flashed the memory of their random kiss under the bridge.

Her ears glowed red. Nick's face began to blur out in her vision as his face moved in closer.

Out of nowhere, her right paw came out to lightly slap him in the face. Nick flinched a little and quickly stopped the advancement.

He backed his face up a bit, now his eyes were in her focus again. His eyes were wide.

She stared back at him. Eyebrows raised, a simultaneous sadness, rage, and excitement filled her heart.

…

…

…

"Why." She peeped. Her eyes were pleading as if begging for answers.

…

…

He sighed. "What do you mea-"

"You know dang well what I mean, Wilde." She almost shouted.

…

…

He looked at her with his brows furrowed. She gathered he was frustrated too, but then saw his face return to the casual expression he usually wore.

He let go of their embrace and tried to lie beside her instead between the cardboard smores. One of his paws reached out to rub her head gently in an attempt to quell any head pains from the fall.

Judy let him do so, but never took her eyes off him. Her amethyst gaze, like tractor beams, pulled at him.

Nick tried to escape it, but it was futile. Slowly, he turned her head toward her again to face her.

He let out a soft exhale.

"I told you. You're different." He spoke flatly.

"I know that. I get that. And I get you're trying to help me. And I trust you. I just don't… Why did you leave me under the bridge? And why you would come back to this place to get yourself killed? It just… it seems like such mean and stupid things to do." She interrogated a little angrily.

He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them slowly again.

…

…

…

…

…

…

She was about to turn away from him when he suddenly spoke up.

"I've done some bad things, Carrots. Ya know that?" He spoke lowly.

Her ears depressed and were pretty much taped to her back.

"I've cheated, tortured, and killed animals." He continued. Judy gulped from the thought of that. The worst part was that it was very easy to imagine, she had seen him fight before. That cold relentless gaze, those quick and precise movements. She shuddered at bit.

…

…

Judy averted her gaze as she fell silent and just listened.

He chuckled, "And it was all just for some fucking money… that hustle ya know…" He shook his head as his chuckle faded away. Now his expression was solemn again.

"My whole life. Hustling. Then running. Hustling… then running. I'm in my 30's for god's sake, and that's all I've done…" He smirked sarcastically. "That's all I know how to do."

"Hell even my attempt at an 'honest business' at Wild Times was still a fucking hustle." He spoke in an almost disappointed tone. He shrugged his shoulders, "I guess I had the raid coming. Bad karma perhaps?" He smirked and joked a bit.

Judy found no humor from that, she reached out to grip his forearm in an attempt to comfort him.

He glanced at her before pulling his forearm away.

She slowly retracted her arm feeling a little saddened by his dejected demeanor.

"When I met you though… You were different…" He spoke fondly of her as if reminiscing old happy times.

Her ears perked slightly.

"You were strong, you were righteous… and…" He rubbed his own neck a little.

"And you never ran from what's right. Your brutal honesty and desire to help is simply unparalleled. You're everything I'm not. Or rather… I couldn't be." He turned to face her with a smile.

"And I thought… I thought maybe… If I saved you or- or helped you or something… Somehow… I could redeem myself a little." He shook his head.

"I guess you inspired the return of some of my long lost naivety. Ehh… But reality… it uh… it has a way of reminding you of its presence… In my experience, usually through extremely painful events." His paw gestured to his face. He smirked a bit.

Judy felt really bad. She felt like she put him in this mess. Tears began forming in her eyes.

"It's not your fault though." He quickly continued. Judy closed her eyes to squeeze out the tears, she quickly wiped them with her paws. She couldn't help but think of the struggles he's been through and how she couldn't even begin to empathize.

"It was long overdue that I tried something new anyway… Heh. But… That night… Under the bridge… I realized that… I… I wasn't helping you in any way. I was almost forcing you into my life of violence… and running and that's… that's not what I wanted at all." Now his tone was very apparently remorseful.

"So I left. To be honest, I was hoping you would leave and forget me quickly. And I hoped to take care of things on my own, whether I came out dead or alive didn't matter… Because… Judy. For once….."

She stared at him intently.

"Just for once in my life… I felt like… Maybe… I don't need to run anymore. And… If I died doing that… I could have been happy with tha-"

"Well I couldn't!" She shouted. There were now angry tears in her eyes.

He winced.

She unleashed a series of bunny punches at his chest. "Ouch! Ow! Ow! Carrots! What are yo-"

"You STILL DIDN'T EXPLAIN THE OTHER PART!" She interrogated loudly again.

Despite the swelling in one eye, both of his eyes were now wide open.

…

…

…

"Well. Carrots… I didn't think that needed an explanation. Kissing is almost a universal gesture of… uhh…" He cleared his throat.

Her eyes were wide open. Ears fully perked. Face fully flushed.

"Yeah. I uhh… I fell in love with you, you dumb rabbit." He admitted with a little guilt in his voice.

She appeared to be shocked, but she of course knew to an extent… Just wanted to hear him say it. Judy retreated a little from him due to shyness and odd bliss.

…

…

…

He averted his gaze to face the top of cardboard, "And when you came in to uhh… 'rescue me' I knew…" He spoke with some confidence.

She looked at him inquisitively.

…

…

She asked quietly, "Knew… what?"

He turned to her, "I knew you knew you loved me too." He gave her an apparent smirk and half lidded eyes. Although somehow, this time… it didn't seem so sarcastic or annoying.

Judy raised both her brows a bit. He was incredibly bold. She smiled back at him.

…

…

…

 _Do I know that?_

"Yes… Yes I do." She replied without another thought.

 **AND IM FUCKING BACK BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY.**

 **Sorry guys. The ratio of Pepsi to Coca Cola preference was too low, so yall forced me into retirement (I'm a Pepsi guy). Some of you chocolatey fucks had the balls to say Dr. Pepper? What are you, GAY?! Jk. We should all be so gay, amiright?! (I hope all you gender fluid fucks choke on rainbow skittles, I voted for my boi Donald Truck)**

 **I hope yall forgive me for my prolonged absence. The truth is… I had been in immense pain lately. But that's not important! I hope to update yall asap. Stay tuned, this ShamefulFaggot is back!.one!1**

 **Also, if you're new here. Please understand I've got some autistic bold texted A/N so forgive me as well.**

 **If you don't, I'll literally let whatever bird I see outside to type the next chapter (it could honestly write a better story than I ever could… OK OK You got me… I'm actually a bird. Fuck.)**


	10. Chapter 10

WZ 10

This icy prison was a seemingly everlasting domain of stillness. The cold air and the hum of refrigerator units still persisted.

Judy and Nick found themselves, once again, with their backs against the wall wrapped together even tighter than they were before.

An extra warmth could now be felt between them.

His tail and arms wrapped around the rabbit tightly, and her head buried into his chest. Nick's chin laid atop Judy's head. Their embrace was surrounded by cardboard.

Both had fallen asleep from the comfort and cold.

Despite their bodies having adjusted to the temperature, they still tremored slightly.

…

…

…

…

…

In the long time spent in the freezing cold, their ears had become accustomed to the quiet and their eyes habituated to the stillness. Their bodies weakened as time went on by the relentless environment. Constant fatigue and stiffness now began to plague their bodies.

Despite that, with their newly confessed love toward each other, their hearts had found a new source of warmth. Although it was not without its ambiguities and speculations.

Judy opened her eyes slightly. Her nose twitched. She looked up at the sleeping injured fox still resting on her head. His red fur was so ruffled and still.

She snuggled a little closer as trepidations in her mind came creeping out.

Judy was completely uncertain as to what was to come. Now that they've divulged their feelings… are they just going to spend their final moments together naked in this refrigerator? Is this really how it was going to end? What was Koslov going to do to them?

She let out a frosty sigh as a mild headache set in from the rather melancholy notions.

…

…

…

 _Maybe this is as good as I am going to get. I suppose I do deserve what's coming after what I did to the innocent predators of Zootopia._ She shut her eyes tightly to fight back the despair.

 _At least… At least I get to meet my end with someone I love. And… That's more than what most mammals get…_ She was indeed grateful to have met Nick. Just as she had changed his life, he had done the same to hers.

Maybe this was the best possible way she could go out on she thought quietly to herself. Just as she was just about finished accepting her icy peril, a few loud bangs could be heard outside of the refrigerator door.

Nick jolted awake from the loud noises, "HUH?! Oh geez… Carrots… You scared the hell out of me… what are you doin-?"

"That wasn't me, Nick." She answered anxiously as she gestured toward the door with her ears.

Nick's fatigued appearance quickly faded as his pupils dilated and his body tensed up. He looked to the door as he slowly stood up.

"Carrots. Go hide behind that shelf of shrimp. I'll distract them and you make a break for it."

The metal hinges of the door rattled loudly and a grunt could be heard.

Judy's ears perked up. "Nick… I'm not leaving yo-"

"Judy." He turned to her and held her two facial cheeks with his paws. She looked up at him with wide eyes and nose twitching. He seldom referred to her by her name.

…

…

The door slowly began to swing open as a loud thud and metal scraping the concrete floor could be heard.

Nick quickly gave Judy a quick but tender kiss. Judy's eyes sprang even wider. Her face red as a tomato.

Nick released her. "Thank you for everything," he whispered sincerely. She just continued to stand there a little dazed, her heart racing and her fur standing up. _Is this the end? Is Nick going to sacrifice himself here? Is Koslov going to kill both of us? Are we going to kill him? I love you, Nick._ _Don't… don't die._

Her mind raced, but she tried her best to snap out of it in anticipation of the impending danger.

"Nick-" she was quickly cut off when Nick quickly maneuvered close to the door waiting to ambush the incoming mammals.

He did a series of very animated yet cryptic gestures toward her. She didn't understand a lick of it, but his enthusiastic charades seemed to display urgency so she assumed he was telling her to hide.

She quickly ran and hid behind one of the shelves as Nick had instructed.

The door was now fully opened. The icy fog obscured the large figure that loomed at the doorway. He or she appeared disgruntled and… _savage?_

Judy swallowed the lump in her throat as she waited for the air to clear.

She squinted her eyes. _Koslov?_

"ARRGHH!" Nick cried out as he tackled Koslov's head into the door frame creating a loud thud. Judy cringed at the sight.

Judy was ready to make a break for it when she realized something odd. The large polar bear gave little to no resistance as he fell to the ground.

Nick quickly mounted him with the intention of bashing his brains in with a solid block of frozen shrimp. But… he suddenly stopped.

…

…

"Nick~…" Koslov's voice was weak and labored.

Nick stared at the usually poised and powerful polar bear in confusion and simultaneous aggression.

 _What is this?_

Koslov coughed and wheezed, "Nicky… You and that damned rabbit doomed us all." His next cough spurted out a lot of blood.

Nick quickly dismounted Koslov and appraised his body. His hair stood up and his eyes wide in surprise and more confusion.

His body was covered with blood. His expensive suit tattered and filled with holes.

Nick stood over him warily as he peeked outside the door, the coast seemed to be clear. He quickly turned back to gesture to Judy to get out.

Judy stared at him, then at Koslov, then back at him.

"What are you waiting for?!" he whisper-yelled with exaggerated mouth articulations.

Retching coughs could be heard from the dying bear.

Suddenly Nick felt Koslov's large paw pull him by the arm.

At first Nick tried to break the grip, but realized there was no danger.

"Nicky…" he coughed. "You…y-you… let… her doom your own kind… She poisoned you with her… **sick agenda**." He practically spat out the last two words in disgust as he coughed up some more blood.

Nick listened intently with furrowed brows. Judy slowly walked in closer to listen as well.

"They… they're coming… fo.. for you…" His voice was shaky now. A sudden wave of emotions seemed to have overtaken him.

"They took my boy Nicky… they take… Morris…" His eyes welled up with tears.

He whispered once more, "They take Morris…" His other paw reached shakily into his suit pocket and slowly pulled out a handgun.

Judy pulled at Nick's fur lightly to beckon him to stay away from the bear, but both of them realized Koslov somehow meant no harm.

"Take it… Defend yourself, Nicky… They… they're… comi-" His sentence was cut short by sudden, but long exhale.

…

…

It was clear to them both life had slipped from the large polar bear's eyes.

Judy looked up at Nick extremely worried, "Nick… what did he mean by that? Who's coming?"

Nick took the gun and stood there with a blank stare. His paw clenching the handle of the weapon.

…

"Nick?" Judy called out to him again.

…

His mind was flooded with thoughts; the red fox didn't know what to do. Judy was worried, scared, and relieved all at the same time. Neither of them knew what they should do next, let alone what was to come.

Judy reached out to him when her ears suddenly perked up high. _Lots of footsteps running toward this direction._

"Nick there's a lot of mammals coming this wa-"

A blinding light suddenly spotlighted them from across the hallway and through the doorway.

"There's Koslov, sir! And there's another one, he's got a gun!" One of them called aloud.

"Take care of it, Fangmeyer!" a gruff voiced called out.

Judy's eyes widened. _The ZPD!_

"Freeze, scumbag!" Fangmeyer ordered authoritatively. "Put down the gun and get on the ground!"

Nick slowly turned to face the wolf officer who was wielding a taser. Nick's grip on the gun only tightened. He knew not what he was doing now.

"I won't ask again, savage! PUT THE GUN ON THE GROUND NOW, OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE."

Another rhino pointed an actual assault rifle at Nick.

Judy quickly rushed over, "Wait! Stop!"

Fangmeyer squinted to get a better look at the small gray mammal before his eyes widened, "Officer… Hopps?!" His face quickly turned red as he averted his gaze slightly.

Judy looked down and realized she was still totally naked. Her ears and face glowed a deep crimson as she quickly grabbed a piece of cardboard to cover up her female areas.

She cleared her throat before resuming, "Please put down your weapons!"

Fangmeyer regained composure, "Ahem. Officer Hopps, please come over here away from that savage! Did he hurt you?"

"No! His name is Nick, he is NOT a savage." She pleaded with the wolf.

Judy quickly turned to Nick, "Nick! Please put the gun down. They'll shoot you."

Nick simply stood there as if he had gone deaf, his eyes fixed on the wolf and the entire ZPD squad. His gaze was making the officers nervous, making more and more of them raise their weapons at him.

Judy quickly moved in front of him with her arms wide open, "Please put down your weapons! He's not-"

"Officer Hopps!" A familiar gruff voice boomed from behind the wolf and the rhino.

Judy froze.

…

…

A large shadow with horns emerged from the icy haze that danced in the refrigerator doorway.

Nick was still unmoving, but his expression almost slowly turned to anger.

"Chief Bogo." Judy addressed him quietly with her ears pressed flat against her back.

The large buffalo appraised her appearance in a bit of surprise and concern. Her body was shivering naked wrapped in cardboard, her face had a few visible cuts and bruises he presumed that the fox gave to her.

"What did those savages do to you, Officer Hopps? Get away from that deranged fox before he hurts you more." His voice was commanding yet concerned.

She shook her head quickly, "Please Chief Bogo. He's not a savage, he's my friend. We were both taken here against our will and Nic-"

Suddenly Nick let out a snarl.

Judy's ears perked up high as she slowly turned around. Nick's eyes were feral and his teeth bared. Judy's fur stood up as her instincts told her to run. His pupils started to narrow into terrifying slits.

"Nick…" She be tried to placate him, but suddenly felt herself yanked away by a strong hoof.

Nick's eyes widened in sudden panic, Judy saw in his eyes… a panic as if someone was stealing something very important from him. He reached out to her with extended paws, his claws were deployed due to the anger boiling inside him.

Bogo's voice suddenly boomed, "NOW!"

 **PAK~!**

Nick's body abruptly ceased up in mid reach as he fell to the floor with a heavy thud.

Judy watched as her fox convulsed on the floor helplessly, his eyes wider than they ever been. His whimpers and cries of pain could be heard.

"NO! STOP IT!" She yelled out as she struggled futilely from what appears to be a sheep soldier holding her.

His frantic spazzes continued as she could see some smoke emitting from his body.

"STOP PLEASE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" She yelled at Bogo who ordered the tasering to halt.

His body finally relaxed as he plopped on the floor writhing in pain, he was still smoking a bit.

Judy's eyes were wide in anger and worry. "Nick?! Ni-"

Loud footsteps came from the hallways. Bogo turned his head in confusion, "Hnngh?"

Nick was suddenly surrounded by sheep and ewe soldiers, they all deployed their batons and began mercilessly striking Nick.

 _Military?!_ Judy's ears perked up high.

"AGH!" Nick cried out as the blows landed hard on his body. Even with his skills and physical training, he could not withstand this beating resorting to blocking the bludgeons with his arms. Blood curdling cracks and snaps could be heard. He could only yell out in pain.

"Cease!" Bogo commanded. The unit appeared to ignore his command.

"Chief! Stop them please! They're killing him!" Judy begged as she struggled even harder but again to no avail.

Bogo quickly turned to a dark wooled sheep officer behind him, "Colonel Ewelysses, STOP YOUR unit this INSTANT." Bogo demanded angrily.

The ewe looked at Bogo nonchalantly, "We are to contain and neutralize all savage threats to the city. This one had his teeth bared, his claws deployed, AND was brandishing a lethal weapon. He must be dealt with accordingly."

Bogo furrowed his brows, "He was already incapacitated. This is NOT how we do things in this cit-"

"This is how we do things to protect the inhabitants of Zootopia, Chief Bogo. Your lackluster enforcement methods have led to countless savage attack victims in only a month, please let professionals handle YOUR problems now."

Bogo's eye twitched in unrelenting anger.

Judy's blood was boiling; her rage was uncontainable at this point. She felt something snap in her mind. Involuntarily, she deployed her large rabbity teeth and bit down as hard as she could into the arm of the officer holding her. She plunged her front teeth in deep until she could taste the iron in his blood.

The sheep officer screamed as he let her go, "AHHH~ WHAT THE-"

Judy sprinted in on all fours and threw herself past the soldiers and onto Nick's body.

With no other option, she clutched as tightly as she could to him and took a few hard blows from the batons. One of them resulted in a loud snapping sound in her side.

She screamed out in pain.

Her left paw clutched her side at the searing pain from the broken rib. Still, her intention was unfaltering as she continued to meat shield for Nick.

Suddenly the dark wooled ewe commanded aloud, "Stop!"

The soldiers' strikes immediately ceased.

…

…

…

Judy was embracing a motionless, bloodied, naked fox.

Bogo immediately commanded his unit to surround and protect Judy and Nick before the ewe Colonel could order any more harm upon them.

His gruff voice spoke low and stern, "You better clear your troops out of here, or you're going to have a much bigger problem than one savage fox, Colonel."

The ewe cocked his chin up toward Bogo, "Is that a threat, Chief Bogo?"

"It's not a threat, it's exactly what's going to happen if you don't clear the fuck out of here. Do we understand one another?" He let out a loud snort. His eyes were wide with anger.

…

…

The colonel smirked slightly and nodded slightly before gesturing at his troops. The soldiers marched out of the room as the Colonel slowly exited into the shadows of the doorway and out of sight.

…

…

…

…

"Nick?! Can you hear me?! Nick?!" Her breath was labored and shuddering. Her mind totally distraught.

His eyes were only half open and his face had large protrusions the size of his own fists.

Judy could barely even recognize him anymore. Tears flowed profusely from her eyes.

"Nick? Wake up! Come on, we gotta get you to the hospital quick!" she shook him a little.

…

…

Nick let out only a small whine barely audible to even Judy despite her relatively heightened sense of hearing.

"Nick? Come on… please…" she begged. Her tears dropped all over his fur mixing with his own blood that flowed from various parts of his face.

Bogo knelt down beside them, "Hopps… we've got to get you to the hospit-"

"NO! Get HIM to the hospital please, Chief!" She quickly turned and pleaded him.

"Hopps, he's a criminal and you're injur-" He tried to continue.

Desperation filled her heart, panic flooded her mind. "He's not, Chief! He's… He's my friend. And I'm fine! Please… Please Chief… Don't… You can't let him die. Please. I need him. You don't owe me anything, but just… please." She held one of Bogo's hooves in two paws.

…

Bogo stared at her resolute drenched eyes, then he glanced down at what was seemingly a dead fox.

…

…

He let out an enduring sigh. "Take this fox to the ER, be careful! He's been hurt bad. Can someone get a damn paramedic down here?! We have a wounded officer."

Judy sighed in relief as more tears came waterfalling out, "Thank you so much Chief!" She hugged him tightly.

Bogo's eyes widened as he quickly stood up to dismiss the unexpected embrace. "You have been nothing but trouble Hopps, but following you did lead us to the single largest bust in the past 30 years." He smirked.

Judy was happy for the ZPD, but her mind could not focus on that right now. "If I had known it would lead to this, I would have never come." Her reply was almost cold. Her tears stopped.

Bogo sighed. "Be that as it may, this bust was a major success. And it was thanks to you."

…

Judy ignored that as she was too busy tending to Nick any way she could.

…

…

…

She suddenly looked up at Bogo. "Let me go with him." She requested authoritatively.

Bogo hesitated and looked at the rabbit with a raised eyebrow.

He closed his eyes in a sigh. "Fine. But put some clothes on first, for God's sake. And don't forget to rest yourself, Hopps." Bogo slowly exited as officers, detectives, and photographers came pouring in onto the crime scene.

EMT's eventually arrived and loaded Nick's lifeless body onto a stretcher. Judy followed tightly all the way into the ambulance.

Her heart raced incessantly. _Please… Not like this…_

 **Shit. Follow if you like me and would like to go to the big middle school dance with me! Leave reviews! I love hearing your thoughts… I love hearing you breathe into my ear so tenderly 3 I luh you. Despite most of you having trash preference for soda.**

 **Muah :***


	11. Chapter 11

WZ 11

 **Hey kids. It's your favorite 16-year-old gender fluid starfish, Shame "The Catpiss Everpenis" Juckston here... coming at you with a new youtube video. I decided to come out of my hole due to recent reviews. Thank you all for tickling my marrow. It really hurts. To show my appreciation, I carefully customized and crafted an appropriate response to some.**

 _ **Wildhoppsislife's**_ **melodramatic display of affection and crippling depression really touched me right in my thyroid gland. I give your sub-par performance a 2 out of "dick". Congrats.**

 _ **f99**_ **, why don't YOU make chapter 11 huh? That's what I thought, you chocolately looking packet of mints. Thanks for being the 5th caller on 105 point fuck, I sent you a packet of mints to your mothers' (the plural ain't a typo, son) basement... where you live. I really do love you. Pls die in a hole. No jk. But seriously...**

 **Some gayboi** _ **guests**_ **had some pretty mean things to say about me like... calling me a milkshake and saying this fic is cancer. I'll have you know despite me actually being made of 70% milk, I am typically stirred not shaken so now we can finally put that debate to rest.**

 **And as for you... other** _ **guest**_ **. If you call my work cancer one more time I fucking swear... I'll shake (of course not too hard, so I don't ironically make myself into a milkshake) my fist and tell you to get off my lawn. Don't think I won't do it, you don't know me. You know me babe.**

 **And lastly** _ **trembelfist**_ **, I actually wrote this chapter inspired by your well-pointed criticisms. Which I truly appreciate btw. However, since I hate criticism and everything about you ... You... me... 2v2 boxing match (bring your dog, I'll bring Mike Tyson) in Iowa tomorrow... right now...**

 **Anyways, enough award winning responses. Enjoy the show. *wears shirt inside out cuz I want to watch the world burn***

 _Hey kiddo..._

 **thump**

 _I know you're going to be great one day._

A familiar male voice spoke. His words stirred nostalgia and long forgotten comfort.

 **thump**

 _*sigh* Don't ever let see that they get to you ok? Mammals like us need to learn to keep our heads up, alright?_ **A warm smile.**

A seemingly optimistic advice that eroded and distorted over the decades.

 **thump**

...

...

The rhythmic thumps picked up in cadence. And as if the thumps were the cue from a conductor, a symphony of sensations came rushing back in.

A twitch.

Then a small kick.

A sound.

A smell of cleaning agents.

...

...

The sound from that familiar happy voice spoke again. This time from afar and fleeting. _Rise and shine, kiddo! It's time to get on that hustle!_

 _Dad..._ a quiet and young kit's voice replied.

The blinds went flying off the window as the light jolted his body back to conciousness.

"GUH!" Nick shuddered aloud as his eyes snapped open. His paw instinctively sought to square up, but to no avail.

Nick quickly looked down to find himself bound to what appears to be a hospital bed.

His eyes narrowed at the bindings and the noticed he was covered with bandages and stuck with catheters like a pincushion.

He tried kicking, but one leg was bound while the other was covered in a thick cast.

His torso was almost entirely bandaged up as well. Nick often wondered how he was able to survive the things he's survived. _I guess the heavenly maker above really enjoys watching me suffer this vicious cycle._ He shook his head.

Call it blessing... call it a curse... Regardless, Nick was somewhat grateful.

...

...

It wasn't long, however, before his musings were overtaken by claustrophobia.

In frustration, he tried struggling with whichever uninjured body part he could call upon.

 **Rattle rattle**

 **CLANK CLANK**

After a good 3 minutes of futile writhing, he submitted to the fatigue and pain from his injuries.

...

...

The room was deathly quiet.

Only the sound of his breathing and the ticking of the wall clock could be heard. He shut his eyes slowly and hoped to at least get some rest out of this.

...

...

...

An hour passed. Just stuck in that position.

...

...

...

...

Emotions he hadn't felt in a while suddenly began to creep in. Despair. Fear...

... Regret.

His eyelids tightened as he began to take deeper breaths hoping to clear his mind.

Instrusive thoughts kept at him though. Thoughts of Koslov's demise especially.

Was what he had said true? Was Judy really just interested in the downfall of all predators? Had she been hustling HIM the whole damn time?

 _It was entirely too convenient... I get caught by Koslov... Judy somehow found me... and then the ZPD SOMEHOW found her?! Then military intervention? She had to be undercover. How could I be so stupid?_

He grit his teeth in frustration. And now he is to simply lay back and take the inevitable incarceration _._

Anger was now the predominant feeling that filled his heart. Despite his attempts on convincing himself that Judy does not have the capacity to do something so heinous... his experience and instincts screamed "betrayal!"

 _That lying sack of shit rabbit. I shoulda killed her when I had the chance._

A part of him reprimanded him harshly for even entertaining that notion. An even deeper part of him seethed in pain fathoming her peril. The ordeals they seemingly endured together made him feel for her... in a way that transcended that of mere romance. A sort of love that roots so deep from an individual to another individual. Something indescribable... _something... vulnerable and easily manipulated..._

Nick shook his head to dispel the thought as he clenched his paws in bitter fury.

 **click**

His ears perked up to the noise by the door.

The knob began to turn. Nick quickly regained facial composure (something he's become very proficient at over the years) and feigned slumber.

He heard the door quietly swing open letting out a faint creak.

Soft footsteps began to tread into the room.

Nick let out a quiet sigh and assumed it must have been Judy again probably here to continue her little caring facade.

He wasn't going to fall for it again.

...

...

...

Nick felt the figure hover over him in his bed.

He kept his cool as usual although it would be a lie to say he didn't feel the anger from deep within wanting to jump out at the rabbi-

 **CHUK-CHIK**

His ears perked, that sound of a gun cocking was all too familiar to him. Nick also quickly realized Judy was much too small to loom over him the way this mammal did.

He quickly opened his eyes only to be met with a sheep in a yellow jacket. The sheep gave him a small smirk before a loud **POP** on his fur.

"AH!" Nick yelled out.

He felt the pellet pop on impact while its contents wet his fur. Suddenly and very quickly, his body heat skyrocketed and that anger from within was immediately uncontainable. In fact... everything seemed uncontainable. He was losing control. This was not something he was accustomed to as his grasp over his own emotions were typically steel. To have his steel grip reduced to something so weak and unsalvagable that almost felt like melty butter was terrifying. He began to feel his mind slipping as his body convulsed from this sudden bouquet of stimulus.

The last thing he heard was the sheep remark nonchalantly, "and that's that" before walking out of the room quietly.

Nick grit his teeth and fought it as much as he could. His mind flurried with thoughts and memories.

An image of Judy flashed.

An image of his parents flashed.

An image of tears and loss.

Then total blackness.

* * *

A prolonged sympathetic sigh.

Her hoof reached up to fix her glasses a bit.

"I'm really sorry for meeting you in these circumstances... I... I don't even know what to say to console you. You've been through so much I... I can't even imagin- Thank you Judy... for all that you do for this city even off-duty."

Judy quietly interrupted, "No... I didn't do any good for the city... I just... The city's been such a mess... and ever since the missing mammals case..."

"Judy..." Bellwether placated "The tip you provided to the police saved those missing mammals! And exposed Mayor Lionheart and his devious schemes! You're a hero to this city. Don't forget that."

Judy was briefly confused before remembering that Nick had been the one who tipped off the ZPD for Judy during that whole kidnapping mess. But ever since then, social stigma against predators have developed dramatically. Anti-pred campaigns and even a proposal of shock collars have been seriously considered.

"With all due respect, Mayor Bellwether... I don't think I saved those mammals at all. They're still stuck in... ya know... And the savage outbreak is still happening all over. Somehow by making progress, we're still no closer to figuring this whole thing out. I'm really no hero..." Despair filled Judy's tone as her gaze was glued to the floor.

Bellwether's eyes drooped a bit as she gave a slight nod.

"And now this... this division in Zootopia. Segregation and discrimination running rampant. Prey is deathly afraid of predator and predator is fighting against societal oppression..." she held her two paws out in juxtaposition while at the same time feeling guilty that she even dared to account for their current situation when she was the one who caused it. Or so she believed anyway... She thought especially of Nick's current situation. Judy quickly dropped her paws.

She took a shuddering breath as she softly pawed her sides. That fractured rib made it a little painful to breathe sometimes. Luckily during that whole encounter, she managed to get away with fairly managable injuries. _Not like Nick..._ A pang of guilt and hurt struck her heart just thinking about his current condition. He had not even been conscious in the last 48 hours. _Why did they have to bind him like that?_ Judy shook her head slightly. The negative feelings only seemed to worsen.

"Judy... This isn't your fault. It's nobody's fault really... I guess all we can blame it on is perhaps I dunno...maybe predator biology?" Bellwether shrugged her shoulders while her gaze listed slowly over to the left.

Judy's ears perked slightly, "Biology ma'am?" Judy had considered it, and she felt this "biological" component was what sometimes drew fear out of her when she was around Nick, and any predator for that matter. But at the same time, she was attacked by Gideon as a kit... so really, it was hard to say. Times have changed, Judy had more confidence in modern mammals than that. _Right...?_

"Yeah! Ya know... it's just an inherent trait, that's all. Thousands of years ago, they hunted us and that killer instinct sometimes rears its ugly head. Of course it's no one's fault! It's just... how it is, I suppose." Bellwether cleared her throat and took a sip of her tea on the table.

Next to her teacup was a potted flower. Judy eyed it briefly with some inquisition. She shook her head slightly to dismiss the observation to reply to the mayor.

"Ma'am... To say all predators are predisposed to violence is just... it's not fair! And most of all, it simply isn't true. I knew plenty of bunnies who were violent too." Judy's voice was adamant, but not aggressive.

Bellwether sighed. "Judy... when I first ran for mayor... my only goal was to help the city."

Judy's ears shot up a bit. _Run for mayor? I could have sworn she only ran for assistant mayor..._

The mayor continued, "To do right by the mass majority... and over the years, I realized... this city... is 90% prey! And they are good and hard working mammals, they deserve the best!"

"But ma'am, so do predators." Judy replied with a hint of anger.

"Yes! You're right Judy! It's true, they do! But just think about it... when was the last time you heard about a prey mammal going savage? When was the last time you felt or seen true life-threatening aggression from a bunny?" She was clearly alluding to Judy's earlier remark.

Judy mulled over it, she was right to this extent... she had never really encountered a life-threatening adversary who was prey. But before Judy could think any deeper, Belllwether pressed on.

"None right? I've can't think of one, either. But I could count quite a few times I have been threatened and hurt by a predator... oh yes..." Her gaze drifted off to the windows for a few seconds. A look of genuine hurt, disgust, and anger flashed very briefly on her face. Judy's eyes widened a bit.

Suddenly Bellwether turned to her, "And I know you have as well... that fox you brought in a couple days ago."

"Nick. Is. Not. Like. That." Judy put her paws down on the table in a fit of anger.

"Tell me though, Judy... Did he hurt you?" Bellwether challenged.

Judy froze remembering the beatdown he gave her. "I..." Judy's ears sank.

"See..." Bellwether raised both her brows and raised her two hooves before picking up her teacup to take another sip.

"He saved me... h-he did what he had to do to save me." Judy thought she was trying to convince Bellwether, but quickly realized now it felt like she was trying to convince herself.

Nick did beat her pretty bad and did abandon her pretty quickly too. However, his care and trust toward her was genuine. She knew it, she saw, she... felt it. And the feeling for her was very mutual.

"Oh Judy... Now you sound like one of those Stockholm syndrome victims... being fond of your abusive captor. If he really cared... do you think he would have assaulted you in the alleyway like that?"

...

...

...

Bellwether's eyes widened ever so slightly. She pursed her lips.

Judy paused. _I didn't tell anyone about that. How does she know?_

...

...

...

Judy slowly turned to the flower again...

...

 _Midnicampum holicithius?_

Her mind quickly flashed back to the sheep carrying a whole bunch of those in the blackmarket alleyway near Koslov's hideout.

Judy gulped and blinked a couple of times. "I uhh... I suppose you're uhh... you're right."

Bellwether smiled so tenderly that it brought chills to Judy's heart. "Of course I'm right Judy... Why don't you stay and rest in the offices here tonight? It looks like you could use the company after what you've been through."

Judy's fur began to stand up high. "I actually... I actually gotta go. But thank you..." She began to get up out of her seat. "Thank you so much, Mayor. Really. For... for everything you've done for me. But I really have to get going."

"Oh nonsense, Judy. Stay... Pleast I would love to have yo-" Bellwether smiled as she slowly rose up out of her chair as well.

Judy quickly showed herself to the door and left with a quick and articulate "bye!"

Mayor Bellwether didn't even have a chance to get to the door before the rabbit was out.

The sheep's eyes narrowed as she hastily made her way to the office phone. "You did it right?... Ok... Good." she questioned grimly and authoratatively.

* * *

Judy quickly exited the building and began a video chat with her parents as she fast walked toward the hospital.

Her mom's face appeared on the screen, "Heyy bun-bun. Everything alright? How's meter maiding?" Her enthusiastic smile inspired a quick grin from Judy.

"Hey mom! Is dad there?"

"Yeah sure. He's just out in the field teaching Timothy, Jason, Burton, Mary, Jessie, Jessica, Jennifer, Thom-"

"Yes yes! Great ok! Could you please put him on, I need to ask him a quick botany question ok?" Judy interrupted quickly but as politely as she could.

"Oooo. You know your father sure loves his botany. Hold up..." She briefly turned her head out toward the field, "STU! YOUR DAUGHTER IS CALLING FOR YOU."

Judy heard a faint, "Which one?! For garsh sakes Bon! We only have a few hundred of them!"

"Your wildest and craziest one, hon!" Her mom yelled back.

"Oh? Judy?" Her dad replied.

Judy rolled her eyes before murmuring to herself, "I'm not wild and crazy..."

"YES!" Bonnie yelled back.

"Hold on, I'll be right there!" Stu replied. Panting and running over could be heard getting closer and closer to the phone.

Suddenly the video call was briefly jolted and her dad's face now covered the screen. "Hey there Jude the Dude! Everything alright? I heard from your mother, you've really been giving out those ticke-"

"Yes yes I've been doing great and I miss and love the heck outta you, mom, and everyone else. I just have a really important question about a plant ok?" Judy got to the point quickly.

"Well sure, Jude. Although there isn't much I can teach you that you don't already know!" Stu replied back proudly.

Judy smirked a little before continuing, "Well this one has me stumped... Is there anything about _Midnicampum holicithias_ that is... interesting? Or weird? Any practical applications perhaps?"

Stu looked up to the sky briefly while wiping away some sweat with one paw. "Well... let me see here... we use them to keep them bugs off the crops."

Judy pursed her lips and tilted her head in disappointment. "Anything else?"

Stu seemed to be in deep thought. "Not that... not that I can currently think o-"

Suddenly Bonnie interrupted, "did you tell her about Uncle Terry?"

Stu's eyes widened, "Oh yeah! That's right! Your Uncle Terry ate one when he was little and bit the dickens outta your mother! Just lost his marbles for a brief period. Those _Midnicampum_ are some wicked potent stuff, I tell ya."

"Ooh! I still remember that hurt like the devil!" Her mother exclaimed before turning over to yell at the kits, "Remember to stay away from those Night Howlers, kids!"

Judy's eyes widened to the point she thought her own peepers were going to fall right out of their sockets and onto the phone.

"Why do you ask, Ju-"

"THANK YOU GUYS I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH I THINK I FIGURED IT OUT. THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN MISSING. OK OK I GOTTA RUN. THANK YOU I LOVE YOU BYE!" Judy exclaimed in pure bliss as she shook her phone. She wanted to give them a big hug, but knew there were much more pressing matters at paw.

"Wha-" Her father began, but Judy ended the call and began her sprint toward the hospital to tell Nick.

* * *

"And here we are, room 318. He should still be asleep, but let me check in on him first ok?" the porcupine nurse informed Judy.

Judy quickly nodded, her ears were perked up high and the mixture of excitement, anticipation, and fear was keeping her on edge. Well if Nick wasn't awake, she would have to wait... and waiting seemed like a costly course of action. At this point, time was not just money... but lives at stake.

The nurse quietly knocked on the door before turning the doorknob and peering in, "Mr. Wilde?"

...

...

The nurse made a loud gasp before running over to the phone on the wall. "I'm sorry miss! Excuse me!" the nurse shoved her way past Judy.

 _What the heck?_

"Dr. Zam! Patient in 318 is code 3!"

 _Code 3?_ Judy's confusion turned into panic as she swung the door wide open to see what was going on.

The bed inside was empty, bindings torn through and the machines surrounding the bed destroyed. The room was practically turned upside down. Judy looked past the bed and saw the window was wide open with the curtains billowing from the inward flow of outside air. _How did he escape those bindings? It looked like he tore them out by sheer force._ _That's not like Nick... and that doesn't look physically possible even for a much bigger mammal. What's happening, Nick?_

Judy's eyes were wide open as worrysome thoughts flooded her mind. For some reason though, her initial panic quickly subsided. She knew exactly where to go next. Without another moment to lose, she left the hospital and headed straight to where she thought he'd be.

She glanced over at the nurse before leaving but noticed she was preoccupied reporting and panicing over this "Code 3." Judy sighed and quietly exited the hospital.

* * *

Though her wits told her to bring some backup or to at least tell someone at the ZPD, somehow it just didn't feel right. So she opted to seek out Nick on her own as she always did.

She arrived at a familiar desolate stone bridge. The grass around it seemed to have grown even longer since the last time she was dragged here by Nick. The sight of its arch triggered some very intense memories and feelings from that night spent with Nick. She felt the blood rushing to her ears and face just thinking about it.

Her heart raced a bit. She was excited to see him, but also extremely worried of what has become of him. His injuries must have taken a toll on him, his condition could have worsened... _or become fatal._

Judy shook that thought as quickly as she had thought of it, staying optimistic and determined had always been her way to achieve desired outcomes.

"Nick?" she beckoned as she reached the underside of the bridge.

...

...

...

A familiar vulpine figure stood leaning against the wall. One paw clenching the wall surface and the other paw dangling limp, head hanging low.

It looked like Nick alright... but at the same time, this figure didn't have the confidence and poise that Nick normally carried. _Something must be wrong._

Judy quickly approached him and saw that the fox was dressed in a hospital gown and covered in torn bandages. This was definitely Nick.

"Oh Nick... are you ok?" She reached a paw out to him. Upon contact, he suddenly jolted and fell forward.

A throaty and disgruntled voice from him commanded her, "STAY... AWAY..."

She winced from this very foreign timbre, he had never spoke like this before. _What the heck is going on?_

"Nick we need to get you back to the hospital ok? I think I figured out why the mammals are going sava-"

He interrupted her with a low guttural growl. The sound shook the rabbit down to her bones. Feelings of fear and terror screamed at her inside her head.

The only real barriers that kept those feelings at bay before was Nick's usual cool and collected demeanor. But his apparent loss of inhibition was nothing short of terrifying.

She noticed his claws were deployed. She gulped and took a few steps back.

"Nick..? Did... did you eat any purple flowers or strange onions lately?" Judy articulated her question carefully.

"You..." He began, his voice was biphonic. One layer sounded like him, but the other... sounded something monstrous.

Her eyes widened as she slowly raised two open paws toward him. "Nick...?"

Nick slowly turned around, he was kneeling on one knee while one paw supported him on the floor and the other clutched his head. His eyes looked different, still the same emerald, but his pupils were now feral slits.

"You did this... It was you the whole fucking time..." He grunted out.

Judy stayed silent as her eyes glazed with tears. She didn't know what he was talking about.

"I should have listened to Finnick. I shoulda killed you when I..." He let out pained moans as he clutched his head with both paws. "GRRRrnnnnn~" he groaned.

Judy stepped in closer, "Nick? Don't say that... Please... What happened? Did someone make you ingest anythin-"

"That sheep was right wasn't she?" Nick asked quietly.

Judy gasped. _Sheep?_ "Who?"

"She told me... you were undercover. I knew it... That's why I attacked you that day... Me and Finnick aimed to silence you. That's why I shoulda killed you. But I got soft... Fell for your cutesy bunny bullshit." He clasped his head again as he let out another moan.

...

...

Suddenly he let out an unsettling laugh, "I- hahahaha... I fucking thought you were 'different' I thought I had you pegged as just an innocent and righteous rabbit. Fuck me, right? Now look at me... You killed my dreams, you killed the closest thing I had to famil-"

"How could you say that Nick?! It wasn't an act! THE SHEEP MUST HAVE BEEN BELLWETHER. SHE LIED ABOUT THE WHOLE THING NICK, AND THAT'S WHAT I'M HERE FOR. I WANT TO FIX THIS. I THINK I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON. AND KOSLOV WASN'T YOUR FAMILY, HE TRIED TO KILL YOU REMEMBER?!" Judy yelled in anger and disbelief.

"I woulda killed me too if I saw myself working for a pred hating undercover scum like you. But let's be honest... eventually... You woulda killed me anyway after you've finished building your perfect little predator-less zootopia."

Judy's heart began to hurt. Where was he developing these conclusions from? He looked really hurt; physically and mentally. Something's horribly wrong. _It must be the Midnicampum holicithias._ But she didn't know how to cure him nor convince him his assumptions were untrue. "Nick that's not what's happening here if you would please just listen to m-"

"Judy..."

Judy froze.

"I need you to go right now, because if you don't... I'm going to kill you. Something's not right with me. They did... something to me." For a split moment, that was just Nick talking. A sincere but melancholy voice.

"Nick tell me who did it?! I want to help you... I can't do this without you... I... I'm not leaving you ok? I know if we're going to fix this. We're going to do it together. Please just stay with me here." Her mind was running in every direction. Her paws were shaking. His threat was so cold and sure, but she wasn't about to just leave him high and dry.

Then something she'd never dream of seeing happened.

...

...

...

A tear ran down the side of his cheek. Nick had lost all control. "Judy. Please. Ru~AHHHHGHHHH"

Suddenly, his body began convulsing wildly as he fell onto all fours. His head slumped toward the ground.

"Nick?! Fight it, Nick! I don't know what they did. But you have to fight it Nick" Judy ran toward him and embraced him. She quickly pulled out her phone "Hang on, I'm going to call for an ambulanc-"

...

A snarl... Her eyes widened and her ears were standing taut.

...

...

His head jerked up as his eyes suddenly fixated on her. A totally feral and hollow gaze. Whatever was left of Nick before had seemingly entirely vacated his body. He let out another ferocious snarl. Judy yelped and dropped her phone as she fell onto her behind. She quickly scrambled back and away from the fox. Her paws clutching at the grass.

His prowl was low but resolute. She knew the shell of Nick wanted nothing more than to tear her to pieces. A familiar voice from the Academy screamed in her head , "You're DEAD, fluffbutt!"

He slowly inched toward her, his fangs still bared. His gaze like tractor beams held her still.

Judy watched in incapacitating fear as her nose twitched like mad. "Oh Nick... It's- It's me Judy... Carrots. Remember?" She wiped the tears away from her eyes as quickly as they came.

Nick suddenly leapt toward her a little, she flinched as she tried to scramble back but bumped into a large rock. He was now only a couple of meters away from her.

Judy noticed his injuries still seemed present as there was a slight limp in his strides.

She knew she had to fight back, for her own survival and for Nick's sake. Suddenly the vulpine stopped just about a meter away. His eyes narrowed toward her and his weight shifted to his hind legs.

 _He's about to pounce._ Judy quickly tried to jump out of the way when suddenly her fractured rib started acting up making her wheeze and fall rather than leap away.

The fox did not hesitate as he jumped on top of her and pinned her down. His claws immediately going to work.

Judy screamed as he tore at her. "NICK! AHHH!" Blood splashed the fox's face and hers. Judy held out her small arms in attempt to hold him back, but he was much too strong and erratic. The pain of each laceration was unbearable and terrifying.

His claws bore into her abdomen and arms. She quickly curled into a ball and released a devastating double legged kick to his jaw from under him, she could have sworn she heard a solid crack. The fox flew off letting out a pained whine.

She scrambled to her feet panting, sweating, crying, and bleeding. "Nick! Stop! It's me... Please. Don-" Before she could even continue, he lunged at her again. This time she rolled out of the way letting the fox fly face first into the rock. His body seemingly slumped over for a few beats before slowly rising up in a daze.

His movements were wild and unpredicatable, not at all like how he normally fought. Never has she had to deal with attacks like this, nor has she had to deal with them being cut up this badly. She began to feel light headed from the blood loss. She tried running, but it was as if all her stamina drained. And the difficulty breathing from the cracked rib was back except ten times worse.

As the fox began to regain his balance, his eyes fixated on Judy's blood, he slowly walked over to sniff it. That seemed to only further fuel his thrill of the hunt. His hair standing on its ends. His snarling intensified. It was as if Judy's counterattack had no effect on him whatsoever.

Judy realized there was no way to flee from him now, and there was only so many attacks she could evade before he caught her again. And by then... there was certainly no escape.

She took a deep gulp and picked up her phone quickly from the floor, and began frantically typing away everything she knew about the Night Howlers on a notepad app. Tears kept falling out as this felt like writing a will right before her demise.

At this point, she could only hope after he had... finished her... Maybe he would snap out of it and read it. At least, what she knew would be passed on. Her paws were shaking and her legs trembled at the dread of what was to come. _Please... just go for the neck. Make it quick._

Judy fell to her knees and called out to the fox desperately, "Nick... I... Maybe you'll remember later... But... please make it quick. I'm sorry for everything and I'm sorry I caused all this trouble and pain. And I'm sorry if you think I hurt yo-" For some reason, this apology turned into a babbling sob, _how did it end up like this?_ From the moment she met him to now, everything had been a frenzy... Yet... everything had been so right whenever she was just with him. And now... he's gone and soon she will be consumed by the shell he's left behind.

She shuddered and continued to sob. The fox tilted his head and hesitated almost as if he was listening. His gaze however remained hollow, and his demeanor remained beastly.

"After..." she choked a bit on the words. "Af-af-a-after yo-yo-re done... Please... read this... if yo-y-y-ou can and... fix Zootopia ok? I really fucked it up I know." She flinched a bit, she never swore to that extent before... But... if it was going to be her final moments... "And I'm just so sorry Nick..." She buried her face into her paws.

...

...

By the time she looked up the fox was only inches from her face. Everything ceased. Like time had slowed to a halt. New tears stopped forming while the old ones dribbled down her cheeks. It was as if her whole body was waiting for the inevitable.

...

...

...

Judy sat on her knees and awaited her impending fate.

...

 **WHOA HOHOHOHOHO~ Come on. Don't hate me anymore k? You know I've always loved you all with every fluid ounce of milk in my body. Leave a review! I love em all! Follow if u dig it. Follow if you don't dig it, just so you can keep up with how horrible this fic is and continue leaving reviews nonetheless! *tongue kisses your ear* BYE.**


End file.
